This Modern Love
by Cat catches Bird
Summary: After everything is over, Kagome comes home with a surprise. She had the ghost of a demon watching over her? Or, should I say, half demon? What happens when she meets the YYH gang? KurKag
1. Wish Me Back Alive: Kagome and Kikyo

Welcome to my new story. I know that with school, my other two stories, and being on the bridge of a breakdown, I shouldn't be starting another story. Although, I think I know a way to make easier on me.

Sadly, this means I might not reply to reviews. At the end of each chapter, I will answer every question you ask, but I won't give you a direct response. So sorry. If you really want me to give you a response, then give me your E-mail address, and I will E-mail you the response.

This also means that updates will only once a week, with the exceptions of Holiday breaks where they will come more than one a week, and vacations, which means that I might not be here to update for you.

The good side is that with a week to prepare, you get a more thought-out chapter, a longer one, and that might be enough to tie you over. If not, then read my other stories.

I will have a quote from some of my favorite songs at the beginning of each chapter.

**This Modern Love**

**Chapter One: Wish Me Back Alive: Kagome and Kikyo**

**By: Cat **

_"What are you holding out for?_

_What always in the way?_

_Why so damn absent minded?_

_Why so scared of romance?_

_This Modern Love breaks me_

_This Modern Love wastes me"_

_This Modern Love, By Bloc Party_

'All_ you have to do is notch an arrow and fire away. If it hits, that's great. If it misses, well, that sucks. You have to try, though, or for the rest of your life, you will always wonder. Wonder about that if you had actually fired, what could it do? Wonder that if you had hit the target, could everything have changed? Could everything have been alright? _

_So notch the arrow, already. They're waiting for you to. You can destroy it! Everyone and everything is depending on you, it's all in your hands, now! Come on, get it over with. Don't just stand back, shoot! Shoot!_

_Take the arrow out of the quiver and notch it in the bow. Pull back, take aim, and let go! See the pure, blue light around the arrow, swirling around it? That's all your energy twisting around it, making sure that it can pierce any barrier or demon hide. With that energy, you can do anything! _

_You're the girl that travels through Ancient Japan on a pink bicycle. The one that adopted a kitsune kit, even though it's a demon, and you're a miko. You are the girl that fights demons, the protector of the innocent! The only one who can safely travel back in time, and come back with such tales to tell! The girl that everyone loves. You are the guardian of the Shikon No Tama!_

_Look at the arrow, watch it flying through the air. Soaring closer and closer towards its target, almost there! Closer and closer, and it… goes right past it. Damn. Well, hurry up! Notch another one and fire away while you still have the freedom to do so!_

_What, do you think you can do this in the future? No way! Here, you're free to fire as many purification powered enhanced arrows as you want! Not that you'd want to fire that many, but otherwise… You get the point. You can't do this at home! There is the thrill of fighting demons here! Who would give all that up for a boring life like you used to have?_

_You wouldn't anymore, would you. No, of course not. Once someone has experienced this much adventure, you can't stop wanting the action. The adrenaline! The fear! The hanyou-is-kicking-but cheering! You know you love to cheer him on when he kicks evil demon a--Woops, can't say that word._

_What am I doing taking up all your time with idle chat? Come on! Notch, pull, aim, shoot! Wait, that takes too long, just put an arrow and shoot! No time to aim, they're all depending on you! And you will probably hit the demon, anyways, or the one next to it…_

_Ah crap, forget the forbidden language, there's a three ton demon headed your way at eight o' clock! Duck, roll, and scream! Goddamnit, girl, run away! Get it through your head that you can't defeat everything! Now run!  
_

_Oh, nice one. You nearly killed yourself! Nice roll, by the way. Now stand and fight again! Do I really praise you that much that you believe you can defeat the world if you have to? I'm gonna have to lay off the pep talks, you're getting so overconfident._

_Last piece of advice, don't get in the way! Idiot. You almost got killed again._'

That voice had been speaking to Kagome two weeks. They were even on a first name basis. The good part was that it gave great advice. The bad part was that it would not shut up.

Kagome learned to block it out, over time, and so nowadays it only showed up when her guard was down, which was usually in battles. She used a small amount of power to activate a silencing spell, which shut the voice up, and fired the arrow she had been holding. It pierced four demons through and through, purifying them all on.

InuYasha was busy fighting a whole army of demons while she fired away at anything that got in her way. Sango and Miroku were fighting off Kanna and her army of demons, while Kouga was off battling with Kagura. His wolf clan backed him up the whole way, but it still looked like he could fall down any minute now. Sesshomaru—who, by luck, held his own slight grudge against Naraku—was actually helping InuYasha. Not directly, but he too was fighting off the army of demons.

Naraku was cackling with evil laughter in the background. It was just a playground to him, where you had to fight for survival against the others. The evil being just laughed as warriors on each side were struck down by the others, and never got back up again.

She fired her arrow at the oncoming horde of demons, not watching it hit as she strung another arrow and fired it at another horde. No reason to get distracted, though. Every arrow hit its target straight on, and no arrows had gone astray. It wasn't luck that every arrow hit, though. No, nowadays, Kagome could hit her target without even looking at it, or aiming.

There it was. The thing she had been waiting for and trying to make happen herself. She was just lucky that InuYasha had used the Wind Scar and created it for her. A clear path was straight in front of her, Naraku at the end. He hadn't noticed yet; Kagome had a clear path to shoot.

Following the advice of the voice, she notched an arrow, and took aim. Even though the young miko of sixteen didn't need to, the girl wanted to make sure that she didn't miss, and that it would hit, and destroy, Naraku. She let it fly.

The girl had put all of her energy into the one arrow, the pure blue light surrounding the arrow in an aura even larger than Kikyo's could. Maybe even larger than Midoriko's, we do not know. The power was so great that the arrow was almost burnt to an ash. Kagome was lucky that she had dipped each arrow in a special liquid that prevented them from disintegrating under the large amount of energy.

The arrow went soaring through the air. Past InuYasha and Sesshomaru fighting the army. Past Sango and Miroku fighting Kanna and Souta. Past Kouga, Ayame, and the wolf tribe fighting Kagura. Right towards Naraku. He didn't notice, but kept on laughing his maniacal laughter hysterically.

The evil demon did not look until it was too late; until the arrow was inches from him. There had been no time to throw another demon in the way, or move or disappear. It hit Naraku straight in the head, and everything went quiet. He screamed with pain and burning that the arrow inflicted.

Kagura and Kanna stopped, instead of taking advantage of the distraction, and watched their leader become purified. Naraku screamed with more and more induced pain as the arrow began to purify through him. The demon army was beginning to disperse, running at the sight of 'the great one' burning.

And then, suddenly, he stopped. Stopped screaming, stopped moving, stopped breathing. It was like time had been frozen to everyone except Kagome. She slowly reached out and took the shards from his skin, so that there was no possible way he could survive. None at all.

Time unfroze, and the screaming and yelling started up again, as well as the turmoil. After a few more seconds of staring, Naraku seemed to become more and more pieces, like he was breaking apart. Soon, all that was left was the baby, and Kagura's heart. Which she immediately took, and ran away with Kanna in tow. InuYasha sliced the baby with The Tetsusaiga before anything else could happen.

It was then that, from the loss of energy, that Kagome blacked out.

0o0o0o0o0

'_When is she going to wake up? It has been two weeks already!_' InuYasha thought to himself as he smashed another boulder with his bare hands.

That was what he had been doing a lot of, lately. Running off into the forest at random times. This time, though, it wasn't to go and see Kikyo. It was to take out his anger on something, like an innocent tree, boulder, and any worthless demon he could find. The half demon had been returning back with more and more cuts every day, meaning he was finding higher opponents.

One bystander tree had all the leaves taken off of it when InuYasha thought that they were laughing at him. Every leaf in every tree whispered in the wind, and it sounded like they were whispering about him, behind his back. Everywhere he turned everything was laughing at him.

Blaming him for what had happened to Kagome.

He hadn't been there to help her defeat Naraku, and so she had had to do it all by herself, and ended up wasting all of her energy. So much energy, in fact, that she had fallen unconscious. That there was none left to heal herself with, and if it hadn't been for the special herbs a traveling witch had provided, she would have died from her injuries.

Sango and Miroku had solved the problem with the monk's wandering hands, which were now kazana-free, by getting married. And having a child, which currently resided inside Sango's stomach, until eight and a half months, when it would be born. And by the already swelling size of her stomach, InuYasha guessed it would be twins. Both girls.

Shippou waited patiently at the side of the sleeping mat where Kagome rested, never leaving the girl's side. They all knew it was the kit that had been affected most by Kagome's sudden coma. When her wounds were infected and she gained a high fever, it was Shippou that fed her spoonfuls of honey and cooled her down with a cold clothe on her forehead.

It was the kit that had demanded to learn how to bandage wounds from Keade one day. From then on, he bandaged Kagome's wounds using such care and skill that you could have thought him an actual doctor.

He was also the one that made sure no harm came to Kagome. When a demon came, Shippou would fight as hard as he possibly could, using his foxfire or his illusions to delude them and lead them far away from Kagome. They always came after the Shikon No Tama, which Kagome had on a chain around her neck.

It was up to InuYasha to protect Kagome during the darkness of the night, though. Even though Shippou had never actually experienced it, InuYasha was always there when the kit feel asleep on the end of Kagome's sleeping mat, tired from a day of caring for the girl.

It came as no surprise that one day, as InuYasha had already left at dawn to chop up some more innocent trees and boulders, Shippou lay asleep on the end of Kagome's sleeping mat. The kit often slept in on his duties, but no one blamed him. He had taken the position to heart by himself, and had not been asked to take care of her. He had stayed up late the last night to cool down the fever that came with an infection Kagome had gotten from a wound in her arm.

The skies were a clear blue, only a few white, puffy clouds causing shadows on the lands below. The sun shone brightly, as it did every day on Feudal Japan. The air was clear, as clear as it would always be, as the inhabitants of this time thought. Little did they know that it would one day be overcome by pollution and Global Warming, and such universal problems.

Off in the distance, looking over the forest, once in a while you could see a patch of leaves disappear, marking where InuYasha had just murdered a tree. Softly, a far away clang of metal hitting rock was heard, too, and marked that InuYasha had just chopped up another boulder.

The calmness in the air brought a feeling of serenity to all who were in the distance, no matter who they were or what they were doing. Although, dark skies forecasting rainstorms hung over the head of an undead priestess. She had been traveling from a place far away, and was happy to see no reception party when she reached the village. Her visit was to be a secret. Until she was far away from the village, that is.

She entered the hut that Kagome, InuYasha, and Shippou all shared, only to find the serene aura of the fine day instantly dim. An aura of sickness hung around the room, so thick that even a normal human could feel it. On the bed lay a prone figure, and a Kitsune kit at its feet, sleeping deeply. The chest of the lone figure rose and fell as it inhaled and exhaled, but it was slower than normal.

One could tell from the pale composure of the figure, and the paleness of the skin that this one was sick. Very sick, too. The thoughts that ran through Kikyo's mind were endless, but were all based upon the idea that Kagome should be put out of her misery, and soon. And, while doing this good deed, why shouldn't she happen to acquire the Shikon No Tama, as well?

The undead priestess pull an arrow out of the quiver on her back. The sharp point of the arrowhead glinted and reflected the sun outside. Kikyo used the tip to carve a small, almost invisible pinprick of blood to appear on Kagome's neck; a marking point. She raised the arrow a few feet above the mark, and held it in one hand.

Kagome's eyes fluttered open, and she saw for the first time in two weeks. She saw sunshine, she saw the bright fluffy clouds and green grass outside of the open doorway. She saw the sleeping kit at her feet resting peacefully. She saw Kikyo standing above her, bringing an arrow down. Kagome screamed as the arrow pierced through her neck, pinning her to the bed.

The scream was heard all throughout the village, the forest, and the land. A second scream did not come though, since the one who had produced it was already dead, arrow through the throat. There was barely any blood seeping out since the arrow had made a clean whole through her throat, and it had not been removed yet. Yet.

Shippou stared at his make shift mother in horror. He had awoken to the terrified scream of hers, only to see a flash of red and white disappear through the doorway. A long stick-like thing was stuck through Kagome's neck, but there was no blood. It only took one minute for Sango, Miroku, and Keade to arrive, and Two for InuYasha.

InuYasha had been coaxing out a demon when he had heard the scream. The half demon had heard it so much in the past that it was embedded into his mind as well as his own name was. He had given up on the demon and ran towards the village to see Kagome. The forest was only a blur to him as he ran at top speed towards her, but only to find her scent dimmer than it was before.

Sango and Miroku had been in the middle of –_activities_- when they had heard Kagome's scream. They too had known immediately who the scream was from, having experienced the same scream from lots of battles. And when they had arrived as the scene, it is truthfully said that they were shocked beyond belief until it was checked that Kagome had no breathe left in her.

Her first breathe of air while being awake was cut short.

InuYasha growled and looked around. "Who sis this?" He said, anger blocking out his common senses as his eyes bled red.

"I-I di-didn't see!" Shippou cried, while hugging Kagome's limp hand to his body.

"InuYasha, calm yourself, we can obviously find—" Miroku reasoned, but his thoughts were cut short as InuYasha swung a clawed hand in his direction.

"Someone murdered her! Someone murdered Kagome!" He shouted, and then stopped. The half demon checked Kagome's dead body's neck, and grew even angrier.

"And they took the Shikon No Tama." InuYasha growled again, but this time it frightened everyone in the room. He was going to turn to his demon side before they knew it.

"But who—" Miroku was cut off again, as InuYasha left the hut. "Would do that to Kagome? And with an arrow, no less…"This time, Miroku cut himself off to retire into his own thoughts.

"Kikyo…" Keade said, malice laced into her voice. Kikyo might have been her sister, but the one that currently walked the Earth was not the sister from fifty years ago. No, the one that walked the Earth now was an imitation created out of hatred, and nothing else.

The clay pot that walked the Earth may be able to fool many who think her reborn, but the real Kikyo was long dead. And the real Kikyo would never be brought back to life completely, since she had already lived her own life, no matter how short it had been.

InuYasha ran and ran and ran until his lungs no longer allowed him to do so. He had left the hut and ran away into the forest, disappearing into the deep, green foliage. Once again the surrounding trees passed in a blur as he ran at top speed to wherever he was going. InuYasha didn't even know himself where he was going. Maybe it was his demon side taking over his instincts to take him somewhere where the pain off loss wouldn't matter. Maybe not.

He ended up in a large clearing, with only a small, roughly built shack occupying it. The walls were made of straw and sticks, while the roof was thatched from leaves and branches of trees. Behind the small ramshackle hut was a large mountain, or volcano, which was smoking slightly at the top. Even though, it looked like it had been that way for years, and wouldn't erupt anytime soon.

A small old woman sat outside the hut, seemingly carving something out of wood. She didn't look up when InuYasha approached, apparently unaware of him. Although he was a demon—well, a half demon—and was as stealthy as one could get, InuYasha had long ago left the stealth behind for the option of making sure she was aware of his presence.

"Who are ye to walk upon these grounds?" She cackled in a light, raspy voice. The old woman did not look up from her carvings.

"Keh. I'll go where I want, old hag." InuYasha replied, and resorted into his all-famous stance, his arms crossed over his chest and chin jutting out.

"Oh, Disgraceful young thing, aren't you! I like you." She said, her grey shoulder length Hair flowing in the wind as a breeze rushed through the clearing.

"Feh." Was his only reply. She looked up at him, and he almost gasped. Her eyes were as plain as vanilla ice cream. They were only blank sheets of white, a small shade darker where her pupils had once showed darker. He knew instantly that she was blind.

"Ah… Such pain shows in your eyes." She said. He gasped, it was impossible for her to see his eyes when she was blind.

"But… How? You're blind… You couldn't possibly—" InuYasha stopped when he realized that he couldn't find the words to describe it.

"Yes, dear. Ye see that I am blind to the natural sight, but that does not mean that I am blind in total. I can see the energy and emotion as the shape of your body." She said, laughing slightly as he gaped.

"Feh…" Was what he replied, although rather softly. His eyes had widened considerably as he gazed down at the woman. She continued to carve.

"You don't know why you are here." She said, and carved a deep niche in the carving she was working on. "Your instincts led you here, because your demon nature had heard of me. Every demon has heard of me, and they know where to come." She declared.

"By why? Who are you?" InuYasha asked her, his stance relaxing so that his arms were no longer crossing over his chest. His eyes were wide with interest at the thought of something about his demon side.

"My name is of no concern, but you can call me Amane. And your instincts led you to me." She said airily, as if it were of no concern. And to her, it really wasn't.

"What can you do?" InuYasha questioned, slightly nervous. The death of Kagome was still fresh on his mind, and if any new information about his demon side was bad enough, then he might actually go into demon rage, which would not be good. Not good at all.

"I can the trouble away ye." She said, but looked back down at her carving, which she finished, and blew the wood shavings off of. Holding in front of her face, Amane examined her work with a critical eye. Adding a small cut into one part, she sighed, finished with her project.

"All you have to do is hang onto this figure, while staying inside the volcano." Amane said, holding the figure out for him to see. InuYasha gasped.

It was a mini figure… of two people. Of him an Kagome. It was about the size his hand, and they were standing next to each other. Both figures were wearing the normal outfits they always wore when in the Feudal era, InuYasha's fire rat clothing, and Kagome's school uniform. In the figure, Kagome's right hand was holding on tightly to InuYasha's left, looking as if she would never let go. They were both smiling.

"B-but how?" He stammered. How could this witch have known how Kagome and he looked when she couldn't see?

"Hush, now. All you need to do is go inside the volcano. And sit there until ye feel all of the sadness transfer out of ye and into the figure." Amane pointed to a small crack in the volcano where he was apparently supposed to go into the volcano. InuYasha took the figure and walked through the entrance and into the volcano.

A long, narrow, stone hallway led him around corners and bends, sharply turning every so often. Each step he took, it got hotter and hotter inside the volcano until finally he reached the burning center. A narrow strip of path led to a small center place, where a large cushion had been placed. A pool of molten lava bubbled and burst below. He followed the path to the small center circle, and sat down, holding the figurine tightly in his clawed hand.

He was supposed to sit there as long as it took to get over the death of Kagome. To get rid of all the pain, and transfer it into the figure that he held in his hand right now. The lava bubbled around InuYasha as the heat rose from below and scorched his face and ears. No matter how much the heat hurt him, he would stay until his pain was gone.

It didn't matter how long it took, even if it took the whole day. The whole week.

Little did he know that it would take three hundred and sixty-five days, to be exact.

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Sango, Miroku, Shippou, and Keade were beginning to get scared when InuYasha hadn't returned for a week. He had run away, before they had had a chance to tell him who had killed Kagome. They had seen this arrow before, Keade especially. And they all smelled the stench of death, long before Kagome had started to decompose.

And so they had had no other choice but to bury Kagome without InuYasha there to do the honors. And so they had Kagome cremated, to keep the evil spirits from inhabiting the dead body and bringing it back to life. The jar they put her ashes in was exquisite. For a jar, of course. It was white, and had blue spirals and patterns covering it. The jar glimmered in the sun as they carried it out.

Shippou was the one who did the honors of carrying his makeshift mother's ashes and the jar. For such a small kit, he was careful to watch where he was going, as to not trip and spill the ashes. He would never be able to live with himself if he had done that to his own adopted mother.

Miroku led the way to where they were to bury the ashes. Even though his cool composure made it seem as if he didn't care, and he was just leading the way to the burial sight, Kagome was like a sister. He had given up all lecherous thoughts of her once he realized that she was his sister. Not by birth. Not by blood. But by friendship, companionship, and the sibling-like bond they shared. He was as distraught as InuYasha was over her death, although he didn't show it.

Sango was most likely the worst off out of the group. Sure, she had known Kagome the least longest, and maybe wasn't her best friend like InuYasha was, but they were as close as it could get. Without disturbing InuYasha's place, that it. Kagome was the sister that Sango never had, the one that had comforted her most about Kohaku. She would miss her sister dearly, and cried each and every second, streams of tears flowing down her face.

She carried up the end of the train of mourners, not wanting anyone to see her disgraced state. Sure, it wasn't bad to cry over her friend. No, she had every right to. It was just that she was supposed to be strong. Her father had told her that before he had passed away, and so had Kohaku.

Flashback

"Sango… go help them with Kagome." Kohaku whispered, his voice burning at the edges of his sore throat.

"No! Kohaku, I can't leave you!" Sango shouted, tears in her eyes. She hugged her younger brother to her body, cradling his battered head with her arms.

"No, Sango. I have to go." He said, and started to close his eyes.

"Kohaku!" She shouted, the tears pouring out of her eyes and onto the young boy's face and body.

"Please, Sango. Go, I don't want you to see." Kohaku said, trying to push his sister away, only succeeding in having her tighten her grasp around himself.

"No, I can't live without you here, Kohaku!." Sango cried, trying to keep her brother from leaving her. She couldn't deal with that pain, not after going through so much time without him. It had hurt to see her younger brother controlled by Naraku, but now that Naraku was dead, Kohaku had to die, as well.

"Sango…" Kohaku stammered, his voice dry. "Please. Live on, happily. Don't forget me, but live happily. AS long as you live on, I will live on through you." He said, and closed his eyes. The last wisp of breath disappeared from his lungs as the chocolate brown eyes disappeared under his eyelids.

"I promise to live on, brother. I will live on, so you can live on, too." She whispered, and stood up to go help Miroku and InuYasha carry Kagome to Keade's hut, where she could recover.

End Flashback

Two days later the small procession reached the sight where they would bury Kagome's remains. It was a large clearing, with trees on either side of it. A path led up to it, but stopped when you reached the clearing. At the back was a large source of water that could've been the ocean. The smooth waves rocked back and forth, in and out, while the sand of the small beach near the edge of the water swirled.

The bright, green grass of the clearing was long and thin, each blade waved in the breeze. In the center of the clearing, a Wide circle was set up, its border defined by the stones that were placed around it. It was wide enough to hold many jars of ashes for a burial sight.

Miroku broke the silence as they stood around the burial sight. "This was the place where my mother was buried. And her mother, and so on." He said, and Sango looked at him, pity apparent in her soft, chocolate-brown eyes.

"Houshi, you never told us you're mother died… Or where she was buried." Sango said, and Miroku turned to look at her. Shippou stood below, observing the burial sight where his adoptive mother's ashes were to be buried.

"I never though that you would care…" He stated simply, and knelt down to the ground.

They began to dig a narrow, deep whole in the soft earth of the burial sight, the two adults digging while Shippou watched and held the ashes in the jar. Soon enough, the whole was deep enough and wide enough that the jar could fit, and Shippou gently put it in the whole. Miroku carefully covered it with more earth, and Sango placed grass seeds atop it, so the grass would one day grow again.

As a monk, Miroku was the one to say the farewell, and the prayer that Kagome would have a happy afterlife. Sango put in that her sister should be well taken care of, since Kagome had taken care and loved the world like no person before had, or could have. Then, the older two stepped back and let Shippou pay his regrets to her.

"Momma…" He started off, falling down on his hands—_paws_ and knees. "Please, Momma, don't leave. It is not fair!" He cried, his small fists pounding the soft earth. "I was supposed to protect you, to keep you safe! And I failed! It's all my fault, Momma! I was supposed to protect you from her… from Kikyo." Shippou cried then, and stood up slowly, tears running down his face.

"Let's go." Miroku said, not wanting to hang around the place, just in case the spirits at rest awoke to welcome their new friend—Kagome. She was in a good place, now. Kagome was buried with Miroku's ancestors, the people that had once been close to him.

It should have taken another two days to get back to the village, but seeing as the three were all as depressed as they were, it took them an extra two. It wasn't that they didn't want to be far away from Kagome, because even though they didn't, it wasn't the main reason. They just didn't want to go home to the village, where they had their own huts, and live life on as they were, pretending like nothing had happened.

It was because something had happened. Kikyo had killed Kagome, so now they were equal, except for the fact that Kikyo was undead, and Kagome was, well… still dead. And would stay that way, forever. Soon enough, Kagome's family would realize that she wasn't coming home, and then they would be depressed. None of them wanted to be the ones to tell her family. None of them possibly could.

Kagome would stay dead forever, and Kikyo would have the entire soul back. Yet, it seemed, as Miroku had sensed it, Kagome's soul was still hanging around. Or, what was left of it. A lot of had been stolen, no doubt by Kikyo, but a small bit was still hanging around the place of death as newly dead souls usually do. She was still dead, though, and would always stay that way.

Or so they thought, until exactly one year later.

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InuYasha's golden eyes snapped open. Looking around, he did not recognize where he was. Molten lava bubble around him, and the burning heat brought sweat and color to his face. He was sitting cross-legged on a large, puffy cushion, but his legs and back was stiff, as if he had been sitting forever.

More like one whole year.

Standing up, InuYasha slowly made his way down the small path, and out of the boiling area, walking on shaky legs. It tool a while for his eyes to readjust to the burning light of the sun when he got outside of the now identified volcano. A small ramshackle hut stood near the entrance/exit to the volcano, a small lady sitting outside on a chair.

Memories flooded back to him as he remembered Amane, Kagome, and his Love's death. InuYasha's looked at his right hand, only to see the knuckles white with clenching onto the object so hard. Unclenching his hand slowly, he saw the figures in his hand.

It was one large figure, created of two characters. One was him, and the other was Kagome, and they were both in their normal garb. They were both holding the other's hand, and a small smile played on both their faces. The only main difference between the carvings was the fact that InuYasha's had color.

While Kagome's was just plain and dull in color, as a normal woodcarving should be, InuYasha's figure was bright and vibrant with colors. His red outfit was shining, and it actually had shadows on it. His long silver-white hair glistened in the morning sun, almost looking as if it were waving in the wind. His face was touched with the normal colors, but not enough to make it seem as if it were a doll. His golden eyes shone out from underneath his bangs. Overall, it looked exactly like InuYasha.

"What… Amane, what is this?" He asked, his voice harsh and cracked from not eating, drinking, or exercising itself. Amane looked up at him with plain, obviously blind eyes.

"Yes, the emotions. The pain that ye had gained when realizing about her." She said, and looked back down to the scarf she was currently knitting.

"What… I know what I have to do." InuYasha said suddenly.

"Ye should know." Amane said, not looking up. Finishing her work on the scarf, she held it up to reveal and study her work.

"What's this? Another one of your objects to take away my pain?" InuYasha said snidely, his annoyed and obnoxious tone back.

"This? No. This is my scarf. For winter. It's coming soon, you know." She said, making it sound as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. And to everyone besides InuYasha, it should have been.

"Well then, hurry along. Ye can make it back to the village before sunset tomorrow if ye hurry." Amane exclaimed, and waived him off.

"Thanks, you old hag!" He said, and started to walk away before she could scream at his impoliteness.

"Why ye! I ought to—eh hem. Well. Once the figure of Kagome is full of color, it will show that she is entirely at peace with you!" Amane called after him as he ran away into the forest, thinking about his mission.

Right on the dot, an hour before sunset, InuYasha reached the village. His entrance was a grand one, dust swirling around him like he had came in so fast, that he had brought a whirlwind of dirt and dust with him. In fact, he had. The villagers looked up from their jobs, and stared it him, surprised. Miroku and Sango stepped out of their hut, Sango carrying a tiny baby in her arms.

"InuYasha…" Miroku said slowly, as if not believing his eyes.

"What's wrong Miroku? You look like you've seen a ghos—"Shippou started as he exited the small hut across the dirt road from Sango and Miroku's. His eyes widened considerably when his gaze fell on InuYasha.

"Yeah, what's with the surprise?" InuYasha asked when no one had said anything after a while. The villagers hurriedly turned back to their work, knowing that this was a private conversation to be held between old friends.

"InuYasha, come inside…" Sango said hesitantly after a moment. Miroku nodded, and Shippou walked sullenly over to the couple's hut. They were all sitting comfortably around a small fire when InuYasha entered the room. He chose to sit across from them, instead of right next to his friends, for means of seeing them.

"What brings you here, InuYasha?" Miroku slightly demanding, his voice laced with malice. InuYasha blinked.

"I just want to get the jewel." He said, his face blank.

"InuYasha, you can't expect us to give you the jewel after you were gone so long, especially when you were with Kikyo—" Sango started, rocking her baby slightly and glaring at the half demon.

"Woah, woah, woah. Slow down. Gone so long? What? And I wasn't with Kikyo!" He shouted, interrupting Sango's explanation.

"It's good to hear you weren't with Kikyo. And I am sorry we suspected you of such, but you ran off and didn't return for so long, we couldn't help it…" Miroku apologized in a cool, masked voice.

"But—wait, how long was I gone for?" InuYasha asked, thoroughly confused beyond all hell.

"A whole year, InuYasha. Today is the anniversary of Kagome's… death." Shippou said quietly, speaking up for the first time since they had sat down in the hut.

"A WHOLE YEAR!" InuYasha shouted, rather louder than usual. They all flinched. The half demon had jumped up to his feet, and was currently shaking his fists, one special figure inside his right fist.

The feeling of the figure made him feel safe, whole; as if his troubles could all be as easily washed away. It reminded him of the old times, when once every rare moment came, he and Kagome could actually enjoy each other's presence. It wasn't that they never enjoyed being around each other, they just liked these special moments better. The only bad thing was that he was full of color, and she was not.

That made him feel as if it was all hid fault that Kagome was dead, but not anymore. He had been at peace with Kagome's death, just until now. Until he got an answer for his first demand.

"I'm sorry InuYasha, but it's true." Sango stated, hugging her whimpering baby to her chest. "And besides, we don't have the jewel. Kikyo stole it off Kagome the day she killed her." InuYasha froze. Shippou covered his sensitive ears.

"Kikyo… she took the jewel?" InuYasha asked softly, his eyes wavering. A look of pain washed over his face as he looked down at Sango. Everyone in the room nodded, and Shippou looked away from the half demon's soul-piercing gaze, tears forming in his eyes.

Without a word, InuYasha disappeared from the hut in a flash of red and white, running away from the unsurprised threesome. It had shocked them that InuYasha had not run away to Kikyo; they felt ashamed for assuming something so ill of him. Though, they knew that once one of them had given him the news that Kikyo had killed their dear Kagome, he would go to her.

What they had not known was whether or not the meeting between ex-lovers would be joyous, or not.

Finding Kikyo was easy enough, with his advanced sense of smell and speed, he pinpointed her graveyard smell within the hour. And, with all that rage and adrenaline running through his veins, it took faster than usual, since she was so far away. It would have taken a normal human one whole day, add or take an hour, to reach the spot she was.

"Kikyo…" InuYasha whispered softly as he saw her, sitting on the ground with her back against a tree. She was wearing the normal miko garb as her clothes, and had a small smirk on her face.

"Ahh… InuYasha. Nice of you to visit." She said in a snide voice, and opened her dull, brown eyes.

"Kikyo… Can I please… give me the jewel." InuYasha spoke softly, to convince her that he was not angry at her for killing Kagome. Everything inside of him, including his demonic instincts, told him that he should dive for her, and kill her, ripping her to pieces with his own claws this very minute. For his plan to work, though, he would have to pretend for a little while longer.

"Oh yes, InuYasha, here is the jewel for you to wish me back alive!" Kikyo spoke wistfully and excited, a smile lighting up her features. She handed InuYasha the jewel as he said nothing, not dignifying it with an answer.

"Alright. I summon Midoriko, and the jewel of the four souls to grant my wish!" He summoned them, calling out through the woods.

Suddenly, a bright flash of light appeared, temporarily blinding them until the light subsided. Standing there next to the pair was now four figures. One was Midoriko, and there were three others that were so far unknown to them.

The first one was a male, and a short one, at that. He looked only to be in his late thirties, early forties. Shoulder length hair was tied back in a small ponytail, and had long robes similar to Miroku's, except they were a deep red in color. Atop his head sat a small crown-like thing, except it didn't hold jewels; all that was there was a small golden figure of a raging stallion. He was obviously the oldest of all of the four souls.

The second was another man, although he was much, much taller than all of the others. He looked to be the youngest, too, maybe in his late teens. Fiery red hair that reached down to his knees clashed with the bright, cerulean blue haori and hakamas that he wore, a paler blue as his armor. Bright blue eyes were young and excited was the only accessory, if you could call it that.

The last was a female, who was almost just as tall as the man with the fiery hair. She seemed to be the same age as Midoriko, in her middle to late twenties. She had long black hair that reached down to her feet, although it was tied up in three tight ponytails atop her head, real, thick golden bands keeping it there. She wore an outfit similar to Midoriko's, except for it was mainly only green and yellows, that made her beautiful, pale greenish-yellow eyes stand out against her pale skin.

"What is it that you want, young InuYasha?" Midoriko spoke in a calm, collective voice. The four souls of the jewel could sense his tension, even if Kikyo could not. A smile that seemed to be more of a smirk played on Kikyo's lips, her heart soaring at the thought of being brought back to life.

"I-I want to wish something." He stuttered, his eyes anywhere but on the undead miko sitting by the tree.

"Then go ahead InuYasha." Midoriko said, and smiled softly, her stormy blue-grey eyes exactly as Kagome's had been.

"I wish… That Kagome was strong enough to survive through her death…" InuYasha said quickly.

The smirk fell off Kikyo's face as the four souls smiled, and another bright light erupted around them. The undead miko screamed; not from fear or pain, but of anger that InuYasha had not brought _herself_ back to life. Something tore at Kikyo's chest, pulling from the inside, and wanting to get out. The soul…

0o0o0o0o0

Yes! All done with this amazingly long chapter! I hope you liked it…

Well, this is my new story! And I am seriously sorry, but it will not be InuYasha and Kagome pairing. I repeat, it will NOT be. Sorry, but it is absolute that Kagome will be paired with Kurama, since I already have the first six chapters of the story planned out. Not written out yet, but definitely planned out.

**Next Chapter:**

**"I'll be watching over you, I promise." InuYasha said softly as he disappeared into the jewel completely, his voice whispering as quietly as the wind.**

Well, there's your clip for next time! Oh, and the only way I'm updating next Monday is if I get over fourteen reviews by Monday. Sorry, but if you want this story to be updated, then you'll have to get me reviews! I know that this story may not get that many in the beginning, so I might lower it to ten or eleven.

This story's updating schedule solely depends on reviews. If I don't get as many as I asked for, then you will either just have to wait, or I will give you a chapter, but it will be a short one! So, please review, because if I get over twenty reviews for one chapter, I will update before the scheduled time!

Yes, and by chapter three, I plan on about thirty reviews, and this comes from FF and MM.

Well, I hoped you enjoyed the first chapter, there will be MANY more to come! So review as much as you can, and keep reading!

Love, Cat.


	2. I'll Be Watching Over You

This is my last author's note that will be in the beginning of the story. Also, I am going to change the layout of it all. Sorry for the inconvenience, and the long wait, but I suffered from a brief depression. Blame my brother; he blew up our house (Not literally, mind you).

At the end of this chapter will be two summaries for my new stories that will be coming up. Tell me if you like either of the ideas.

Well, I am sorry if the characters seem OOC, but NO FLAMES. They may encourage others, but they hurt me. NO FLAMES.

Love and enjoy.

**0o0-C-h-a-p-t-e-r—T-w-o-0o0**

**0o0-I'll be waiting for you-0o0**

_Monday you can fall apart_

_Tuesday Wednesday break my heart _

_Thursday doesn't even start_

_It's Friday that I'm in love_

_Saturday wait_

_Sunday always comes too late_

_But Friday never hesitates…_

_Friday I'm In Love, by The Cure._

The soul was ripped from Kikyo's chest, and she screamed a piercing, agonizing scream. InuYasha had his ears covered, and his eyes were screwed tightly shut as the blinding light grew brighter, and brighter, and brighter still. One by one, the four souls of the jewel were sucked back inside, the wish having been granted. Slowly, the light receded, and a figure stood there.

Her eyes open in slits, her mouth parted slightly to breathe, long raven hair whipped around her in the hard breeze of late summer. A few meters away stood Kikyo, her hands wrapped around a large, glowing ball of white trying to escape her grasp. The undead miko was trying to force the glowing ball back into her chest, but it wouldn't go. Instead, it broke free from her grasp, and floated over towards Kagome, despite the screechings that Kikyo spewed.

The white ball hit Kagome head-on, and sunk into her chest. Her eyes widened in the recognition they hadn't had before, and they gained their normal bright, stormy blue-grey color, and her face got back its normal, pretty, pale complexion, instead of being just a grey in color. It was then, as Kikyo lost the coloring she had unexpectedly gained since the last time he had seen her, that InuYasha realized that the glowing white ball was a soul. Kagome and Kikyo's soul.

Kikyo crumpled to the ground in a heap of white and red miko clothes, panting hard. Still, a small part of the soul was still with Kikyo; it hadn't been completely stripped of her, but Kagome now had most of it. The newly-not-dead girl's eyes were bright and alive, gazing down at her hands, as if they were something new.

Well, in technicality, it was. She had basically been a wandering soul for exactly one year, and now she was not used to being in her old body. Using a sharp nail, she cut her wrist a tiny bit, just check that she was really alive, and not being cheated of death like Kikyo had been.

A small, completely rare smile graced InuYasha's face as he looked at the surprised Kagome. It wasn't the usually smirk, or even an evil grin that he got when he was about to kick something's ass. No, this was a true smile, that would've continued on, had he not started to feel something odd, starting at his legs.

On his legs was not any kind of animal, unless it was an invisible one. There wasn't anything different with InuYasha's legs, no blood, no broken bones there, nothing was wrong at all. Unless you count disappearing. Slowly, starting with his feet and working its way upward, his whole body was disappearing, including his clothes.

"Kagome!" He yelled out, causing the surprised girl to cast a casual glance in his direction, and then take a double take to look back at him. His legs were disappearing fast, and a startled look was cast over his features.

Reaching out towards him, she called to him. "InuYasha! What's happening!" Her question was more of a demand. A loud humming noise was buzzing in the background, and nearly silenced her question. Looking down at InuYasha's legs again, Kagome noticed something.

The jewel was at his now disappearing feet. He had made the wish for her to be alive, instead of Kikyo being alive. Rushing forward, to InuYasha's surprise, Kagome wrapped her arms around the half demon, and buried her face into his muscled chest. Even through the various other things blocking his demonic sense, InuYasha could still smell the salty tears that were dripping from her eyes and down her face in streams.

"Shh… Don't cry Kagome, you should be happy. You're alive now! Isn't that what you wanted?" He whispered into her ear, and she looked up at him with puffy red eyes.

"Y-you did this?" Kagome asked him softly, so quietly that the half demon had to struggle to hear each word. He smiled at her, one of those rare times when it wasn't that hurtful smirk, or that all-knowing smile he had, or the strange grin he always acquired when he was about to kill something. No, this was a true, sincere smile, one that she had only seen once before.

InuYasha expected a large hug, maybe a kiss or two, and a lot more tears. He expected her to yell out her thanks and jump around and be like her old, happy self. What he got for a reply was not what he expected at all, though. No, The only thing the same between his expectations and her actual response was the thousands of more tears that ran down her face.

Kagome pushed against his chest with her fists, and yelled. "InuYasha! How could you? Why? The jewel is sucking up your soul because you used it to wish me back alive! Why did you do such a horrible thing, InuYasha?" Kagome screamed, easily heard over the background humming noise.

Ah, yes. Kagome: the only person in the world who cared about everything besides herself, even at a time like this. She even put InuYasha's sake before her own after being dead for a whole year. The young miko pounded on his chest with her fists, and rested her crying head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her.

His knees were gone. Even if the crying form of Kagome was blocking his view of his lower legs, he knew from the fact that he couldn't feel them, that his knees were gone. For how long? Who cared. For forever? Maybe. Being close to Kagome, and not feeling the misery that came along with her being dead? The best feeling in the world, even if he was slowly disappearing.

Or being sucked into the jewel. Yes, Kagome had been right, and the now blaring humming noise was coming from the jewel, as it slowly, but surely, sucked him up inside of it. he could only stand there and watch as Kagome cried, her face buried in his chest, as he slowly disappeared from the whole world.

Was this the price for wishing Kagome back alive? Undoubtedly, yes. Was it worth the feeling of happiness that shot through him everywhere at being able to see his best friend, his second love, once again? Was it worth the fact that he was going to be gone soon, most likely within the next five or ten minutes? Or was it worth the fact that he would never be seen, or heard, or felt again? It was worth it all, only because he would be able to see his Kagome alive for the last few minutes of his life.

"Stupid, stupid InuYasha! How could you! Why?" Kagome cried out, banging on his chest once again. She hadn't noticed that his knees had disappeared, and inch-by-inch, so were his upper legs.

"I thought… That you wanted to be alive." He whispered softly, making her cry even more.

"Not if it means this! What's happening?" Kagome clung to his haori, which was stained wet with tears.

"But you're alive, Kagome! You are alive! Don't you remember how nice it is to be alive? Kikyo has cheated death, but you are alive, once again!" InuYasha cried, bringing her out of the hug and pushing her away slightly, but only a few feet apart. He was scared that maybe, she too would get sucked in. He wouldn't have been able to live with himself if that had happened. Well, technically he wouldn't have been alive at all, but there was a possibility that she could be sucked in place of him. That would be worse than her being dead.

"No! You didn't have to do this for me, InuYasha!" Kagome cried out.

"Yes, Kagome, you deserve a second chance more than anyone else in the world." He said, smiling softly at her.

"It's not fair!" She pleaded softly, reaching out her hand towards him. The bottom of his chest was disappearing now, and all that was left was his neck, he, shoulders, and arms.

"It's the price to pay, Kagome." InuYasha replied. He wrapped his large hand around her small hand, and held it close.

"You're my best friend, InuYasha, don't leave me!" She sobbed. Tears were streaming in even more streams now.

"You'll always be in my heart, Kagome. Don't forget that. Don't forget me." He said softly.

"No, I'll always remember you." Kagome promised.

"And remember, Kagome. You might not be mine to Love, but you'll always be mine to protect." InuYasha let go of her hand, and slowly started to disappear into the jewel.

"No! InuYasha! You promised that you'd always be there for me!" She cried out, trying to grab his hand again.

"I'm always here, Kagome." He stated, now you could barely see him.

"InuYasha!" Kagome whispered, reaching out for the last time.

"I'll be watching over you, I promise." InuYasha said softly as he disappeared into the jewel completely, his voice whispering as quietly as the wind.

Kagome sank to her knees and cried her eyes out, sorry that InuYasha disappeared. Already she missed him, his rude demeanor, strangely cold attitude, and the way he always yelled at her for not being good or not getting something right. It was rare that he showed kind emotion to her, but when he did, it always brought Kagome back down to earth, and she remembered how much she loved him.

A cold hand on her shoulder brought the girl out of her memories, and Kagome looked up. She looked into the face so much like her own, yet older and more sophisticated, while her own was fun, happy, and carefree. Kikyo gazed down at the crying girl with cold, dead eyes. It had come as a shock to her that Kagome was still alive, and she was having a hard time coping with her being brought back to life instead of herself. _It wasn't fair!_

"K-Kikyo…" Kagome whispered as she gazed back up into the dull, brown eyes of the undead miko.

"You are alive again." Kikyo stated, squeezing the girl's shoulder just for good measure, and only because she wanted to see how alive the girl actually was. Noting the small amount of blood that had appeared on Kagome's wrist, they both knew that Kagome was really alive again, and not undead. If she were like Kikyo, then there would not have been blood, only spirits would have poured out.

"Y-yes." Kagome replied, shaking slightly at the deep inspection of the other miko. Other than the times that Kikyo had pinned her to the tree with her soul demons, Kagome had never really been touched by Kikyo, besides a few other times.

It felt strange to have the cold, hard hand placed on her shoulder, squeezing it for good measure. The smooth, pale skin of the undead miko was perfect and unwrinkled, like the white porcelain of a doll; just like that of a perfect being. The only thing not perfect about Kikyo was that the undead miko was just that; undead. Her soul had not been put to rest like InuYasha said he would do, nor had she suffered a horrible death.

"A… A second chance…" Kikyo stated softly, her eyes boring down into the young, time traveling miko, unmerciful. Deep down, hidden beyond the exterior layer of the brown eye color, lay the doors into the undead miko's soul, or what little she had stolen from the one from the future.

And in those eyes lay truth, the truth that Kikyo had known for a long time, and could never forget. There was something else, though… Something not distinguishable to Kagome. Was it regret? Regret for treating Kagome so badly, and not understanding the girl's reasons? Or was it comprehension of what had happened and why it had happened? Surely, there was regret. Deep down, even farther, though, lay a thick layer of hope.

It was hope for the miko that knelt before her, not in praise, but in fear, and forgiveness of all that things that she had done. Kikyo closed her eyes briefly, and then looked away into the vast expanse of green trees, breaking the contact from Kagome by taking her cold hand off the girl's shoulder. Shakily, Kagome got to her feet, and stood before Kikyo.

"Yes, this is a second chance…" Kagome repeated, fearful for her reaction. Now that InuYasha was gone, what would Kikyo do to her? Would she continue on with her intention of killing Kagome and getting the soul back, or would she give up the soul completely?

As if sensing the rising tension in the young miko, Kikyo looked back at her through the corner of her eye, smiling a small, true smile.

"Do not worry," She chuckled a humorous laugh slightly, surprising Kagome out of her temporary stupor.

"What do you plan to do?" Kagome inquired quietly, her blue-grey eyes watching every single movement the undead miko made cautiously, not trusting her after the long period of time in which Kikyo had tried to _kill_ Kagome.

"I do not plan to give you back the part of your soul, if that is what you are asking." Kikyo stated, a smirk curling at the ends of her lips.

Instead of having shock ring through her, the only thing Kagome felt at that sentence was relief. Had she not expected Kikyo to say the words she just had, a gasp would have escaped her, and her hand would have flown to her mouth in a flurry of movement. It would have been too hard to handle today, getting the rest of her soul back, that is. Being dead for a whole year can do things to one, believe it or not.

For that she was ever so grateful to Kikyo, however strange a situation it was right now.

Only one thing came to mind, after a phrase like that. "I would expect no less." Kagome said, and held out her hand.

Looking down at it awkwardly, Kikyo held out her own cold one, and they shook hands, a sign of mutual agreement. Or, rather a treaty of peace. For the time being, that is. No one could say how long this contract would stand, or who it would be that would be the first to break the rules. No one knew how it was that they could break the rules, since this strange agreement had come on so quickly, so suddenly, that there were no actual guidelines to it.

Turning around, the older miko began to walk away. After a few steps, though, a clear call rung out through the forest, so loud that it scared the birds out of the nearby trees, making the branches shake slightly.

"When will I see you again?" Kagome called out, making the older miko turn a bit to see over her shoulder.

"In due time, my young miko, in due time." Kikyo spoke softly, yet loud enough for Kagome to hear and comprehend.

It was then that Kikyo turned away completely, and walked down a dirt path that led out of the forest. Even if she was walking away from the situation that had caused more questions than answers, both mikos felt complete. Not in the soul, of course, but in their minds.

It was understood that Kikyo had forgiven herself, and in the few words exchanged, that Kagome had forgiven her as well. That was all the undead miko needed to move on to a new adventure, the silent or verbal—she did not care which—approval of her rival in love, powers, and much more.

Peace was not laying between the two priestesses, nor was it an actual agreement. More was it comprehension of the fact that Kikyo had done what she had had to do at the time, and that she had thought it was right at the time. It was not proven to her that the situation was a bad one, or the things she had been doing at all to anyone.

Of course it had made sense to steal the jewel shards and give them to Naraku; the faster one got them, the faster she could kill him and take them.

Of course it had made sense to try to kill Kagome; the sooner she got the complete soul, the sooner that Kikyo would have a chance at defeating Naraku with her true and full powers.

Of course, at the time, it had made sense to kill Kagome; Kikyo had known that somehow and soon, the half demon named InuYasha would have shown his true colors and stolen the jewel. Even if it was not on purpose, even a strong one such as himself could not resist the tempting call of the jewel. Not that it was his mind that wanted the jewel, it was more of his demon blood that wanted it, _burned _for it, needed it with every depth of his soul.

And Kikyo could not have just stood by and let that happen.

There would have been no chance in between to slip through and steal the jewel, since they would always come after her, searching for the jewel. This way, the half demon had been so distraught over the thoughts of Kagome dieing, that he had not taken the time to notice that it had been she that had taken the jewel, that it had been her that had killed Kagome. That it had been _Kikyo_.

Even though everything was understood between the young and older miko, that did not mean that Kagome forgave her. There was no way that, even being the kind, gentle-hearted person she was, could forgive someone for killing her, even if the reasons were clear. It would be hard to forgive someone that had always had the intention of killing you, and then one day did. So Kagome forgave Kikyo for everything she could, like the stealing, the lying, and even the attacks. She would not forgive the undead miko for killing her, though, no.

Neither could Kagome forgive Kikyo for making InuYasha wish her back alive. Not that the young miko did not want to be alive, it was just that she did not want to have that fate be wished on InuYasha. Kagome blamed Kikyo, but mainly the girl blamed herself for it.

Here he was, though, his body and mind had been sucked up into the jewel, as a sacrifice and as payment for bringing Kagome back to life. His soul was loose, though, but no one went to catch it, no one went to comfort it or lead it to the place of death.

That was what happened when a soul was so worried or distraught, or still had a purpose on this Earth. It was what happened when one soul that died needed so badly to stay back on the Earth that no deity of death could take control of the soul, at least for a little while, and lead it to the Spirit World, where it would spend eternity, living out the rest of its spiritual life. Life as a spirit, that is.

So InuYasha's soul was floating about, high above the skies, waiting and watching every single movement his charge made. Yes, his charge. Just like Sesshomaru was in charge of watching over Rin, he was in charge of watching over none other than… Well, his charge. He was a ghost, you could say, but one of super powers. Yes, he could very well float, but also could he move objects, and sense things.

It would come in handy when watching over this charge.

Kagome stood in the clearing still, watching Kikyo as she turned and walked away from her. She watched as the older miko clad in red and white disappeared into the thickness of the trees, and her aura disappeared; out of range. Sighing, she looked down, and a flash of swirling purity caught her attention. The Shikon No Tama was there, at her feet. There seemed to be something wrong with it, though, since the inner jewel seemed in turmoil.

'_Maybe it's because now it has InuYasha's soul in it, so it is now the jewel of the five souls…_' Kagome thought.

Little did she know that it was the fact that right now, there was supposed to be five souls inside the jewel. Yet there wasn't.

The jewel was in turmoil because there were only four souls still, and it needed five to carry on as it should be.

InuYasha's soul was missing from the jewel.

For it to be forever dormant, it would have to have had a wish made on it, and an unselfish one at that. Not one to find beauty for oneself, or money, or even happiness in life. It would have to been for one other's sake, and not have benefited the wisher in a great way. Yes, bringing Kagome alive brought back every good feeling InuYasha had ever felt, but it didn't benefit him as much as it helped Kagome and their friends.

When the wish was made, the jewel had prepared itself to become dormant for when the fifth soul would be sucked into it. That was the turmoil that was raging inside the jewel. The four souls were angry—or, in our language, _pissed off_, that they had only succeeded in sucking up the mind and body of the wisher.

The only way that the jewel would be forever gone or _asleep_ would be if it were no longer the jewel or the four souls, but if it were to change. Change into the jewel of _five_ souls, and it would no longer be as powerful, or wanted as the jewel of the four souls was. Still, now, it was the jewel of the four souls, and would reek havoc onto the future and break apart innocents' lives, just like it had here, in the past.

Kagome did not know that, though. Even Kikyo did not know it. No one did, only because they had expected for the jewel to disappear fully when one would make a wish on it, for it to be gone forever. And now, still, they thought that even if the jewel _was_ still here, that it was just because the memory of the jewel could not be erased, and only the jewel of the Shikon No Tama remained, its outer shell, and that the souls were gone.

Clipping it back onto the original shard chain, Kagome brushed the visible dirt off her skirt and shirt. She was in her old uniform. _How nice_. With one glance back at the way Kikyo had walked, the younger miko walked in the opposite direction, through the forest, and to the village. When she was sure no one was watching, Kagome burst into a sprint.

It took only an hour and a half for her to reach the village. When she reached it though, Kagome's eyes widened in surprise, and she held back a startled gasp. Most everything about the village was different, if it was the style, or the colors, or even the layout.

The huts were no longer all disordered and unorganized, but were set in straight lines, with dirt roads going through the town, and leading all towards a town square, where a civilized market was set up. Vendors called out, and shop owners waved banners from their shops and carts. If she had not known better, Kagome would have immediately said that she had entered Europe or North America, close to the sixteenth century, instead of the village.

The villagers did not stop and gawk at Kagome as she walked by, not anymore, that is. They were used to such things occurring, and put it off as another that had came from that strange village with indecent clothing for a teenaged girl. Most had forgotten about Kagome, in all, because she was just another passer by that had come to the village. Of course she was a very strange memory, but with their short lives and all, they needn't worry about such things like who came to the village, and from where. It just was not important.

Asking quick directions from a shop vendor, and getting a few strange looks from people, Kagome soon found her way to Sango and Miroku's hut. Pulling aside the mat curtain that blocked the doorway, she quickly knocked on the inside of the wall, warning the occupants of visitors. Stepping into the hut, Kagome let her eyes adjust to the darkness, and looked around. There were obvious signs that they had been there recently, but had just left, since the fire had just been put out.

Sighing again, she stepped back out and into the sunlight, letting the warmth enclose her. Getting more directions from another villager, she walked off down the path that led towards the river, or where Sango, Miroku, and Shippou were rumored to be.

"He probably went looking for it…" Kagome heard Miroku say, trying to comfort the crying forms of Shippou and Sango. Kagome stepped forward until she was out of the shadows, and straight across the river from them.

They did not look up. "How do you know? He could be having a full-out make out session with her!" Shippou cried with a watery voice. Miroku and, looking up from her crying, Sango looked at him oddly for the choice of vocabulary.

"A what session?" Sango asked, her voice watery too. Tears streamed down her face, and her eyes were red and puffy with crying. She held a baby attached to her back, its cute face screwed up with a nightmare. It let out a whimpering cry, and instantly Miroku was holding the baby, rocking it back and forth.

"Make out session." Shippou replied, wiping the tears out of his eyes with a small fist, so he could see his companions more clearly. "Like, what you and Miroku do together when you think no one's looking." He said to Sango. The look on her face was just too priceless not to let out a small laugh.

They looked over towards Kagome, and all gasped at the sight that lay before themselves. Standing there was Kagome, in her usual school uniform, although a little dirtier than usual, giggling away at a small comment Shippou made. Shippou stood as well, using his paw to shield that sun from his eyes, and looked over towards her.

"Kagome…?" He whispered, startled. She still giggled, and he ran over towards her at full speed, crashing across the river, almost drowning in its strong force of water.

"Momma!" The young kit cried, reaching the other bank, not bothering to shake himself off before launching himself into the young girl's arms. Tears flowed freely down both their faces, and Kagome hugged him tighter and tighter to her chest, not letting go.

Well, she only did when Sango and Miroku, careful of the baby he was holding over his head, watching so she not get wet, crashed across the river as well, and ran to hug her. Shippou was left sitting on the ground beside the reunited trio, holding a small baby girl in his arms, crying. The baby made another whimpering sound, and Shippou found himself comforting it with sweet words.

"No need to cry! Kagome's back! My momma's back!" He said, rocking the small baby slightly.

Having not grown that much, Kagome noted, Shippou was only a bit larger than the baby itself, and he looked ridiculous trying to comfort it. It worked, though, and Kagome giggled at the maternal, or _pa_ternal knowledge of comforting a baby he showed. Struggling to get out of Sango and Miroku's hugs, she sat down on the ground carefully, next to her kit.

"Momma… You're alive…" He said shakily. Kagome grinned wickedly, and held out her hand for him to see.

"Yup, I'm alive alright." She said. Then, her smile faded into watery eyes. "But… InuYasha—" She cut herself off, and looked down at the ground.

Swinging an arm around her sister's shoulders, Sango spoke. "He's… He is alright, isn't he?" She asked, worried.

Kagome shook her head slowly, and took the jewel off her neck to show them. They all gasped at the wicked beauty of the swirling jewel. The jewel that had caused so much pain in their lives, now fully lay before them, tempting, but pure. Kagome pointed to the swirling mass inside.

"He's in there." She whispered, so quietly, even Shippou had a hard time picking up the words.

"So… He wasn't having a full-out make out session with Kikyo?" Miroku asked cautiously, trying out the words Shippou had said before.

"Who taught you those words?" Kagome asked, a small smile on her face.

"What ever are you talking about, Lady Kagome?" Miroku asked, a smirk on his face as well. Shippou giggled, and Sango smiled the first big smile she had in days… Three hundred sixty-five, that is.

Soon, they were all laughing at Kagome's strange vocabulary from the future. "I have to go home." Kagome whispered, unsure as to how they were going to react to it. Tears gathered in Shippou's eyes again.

"But momma, you just got here!" He cried. Kagome handed the baby over to its parents, and the baby cried at the loss of warmth, only until it got settled in Sango's lap.

"I know, sweetie. I know." Kagome cried as well, holding him close to her. "But I don't belong here, Shippou. My home is in the future, where I was born. You guys are my family, and will always be. But I have to go home. I'm sorry." She sobbed, and stood up, still holding Shippou.

Setting him gently on the ground next to Miroku, she wept. "Goodbye. I'm sorry. Sango, Miroku, make sure you have lots of babies. Shippou, watch over their family forever, or until you can't any longer. When that happens, assign one of your children. I love you. Remember me as your family, friend, and the one who will always love you." Kagome then turned around, and walked away, but not before blowing them a small kiss.

**0o0o0o0o0**

Kikyo stood atop a hill, far away from the village, the forest, and anywhere that reminded her of InuYasha. He was gone now, had proved his love for Kagome was greater than his duty to her, and that she did not deserve a second chance as much as Kagome did.

With her soul stealers to help, the undead miko had gotten as far away as possible from the forest, or as much as one could when you were a demon. Kikyo was not a demon, but her soul stealers were, and they had brought her far away in record time, much faster than she would have been able to if she were walking there, as normal.

Her dull brown eyes looked over the world she once knew, before whispering her goodbyes. She was not leaving this world in total, just the world she knew as Japan. She would be traveling west, towards Western Asia, and maybe even as far as Europe. No one would know her there, and she could make a living, without every one demanding something from her.

"_You are lucky, Kagome. Maybe one day, I will have a second chance as well…_" Kikyo whispered into the wind, well aware that no one could hear her from where she stood atop the hill, watching over the land.

"_Goodbye._" She whispered into the wind again. Turning around, she left towards her knew land, where she would make a new living, for once, her own. A life or her own.

**0o0o0o0o0**

Kagome stood before the well, in the small clearing where it was placed. The well that would take her home, to the future, where she actually belonged. Kagome just hoped that she was not making that mistake of leaving, and that she was meant to be in the future. That there would be meaning in the future. Of course, she could not predict the future of the future, and so she would just have to wait and see how it all turned out.

Closing her eyes, a small breeze that felt of far away twirled around her, lifting up her hair and blowing it in the wind.

'_You are lucky, Kagome._' It said. The young miko heard it so clear, it was like whispers in her ears. '_Maybe one day, I will have a second chance as well…_' it said then, and Kagome looked around to the surrounding forest, and everywhere through it. She could not sense anything, and Kagome knew that she would have seen the soul stealers.

'_Kikyo!_' Kagome cried into the wind, still searching for the undead miko.

'_Goodbye…_' It whispered, and the breeze that had been playing with her hair left, only to find a new home.

Walking towards the well, Kagome sat on the lip of it, and kicked her legs along the side of it. The darkness below, and the faint aura of dead demons might have been threatening for some, but Kagome knew that it was not, and that through that well was her only way home. Glancing back one last time, Kagome pushed herself forward and into the well, only to be surrounded by the familiar, comforting, blue light that meant she was home. Home for good.

**0o0o0o0o0**

Three days at home, and Kagome was fully settled back into the futuristic life of her home. Seated at the table, she sat with her mother, brother, and grandfather, enjoying another great breakfast her mother had made. Finishing, Kagome stood up and took her plate to the sink, preparing to wash it. Seeing as her brother was done too, she took the liberty of washing his as well.

"Hey Kagome…" Souta started, slightly hesitant. Smiling and cocking her head to the side, Kagome encouraged him to continue on. "Will you pick me up from school now that you're always home?" He asked, and Kagome smiled again.

"Sure squirt, my school starts next week, so I can be there a bit early." She said, and went back to cleaning the dishes.

"Thanks, Kagome!" Souta gave her a quick hug, before running away to play more video games, rambling on about how he could show off to the other kids about how his 'cool sister' was coming to pick him up.

"No video games, Souta!" Their mother called after him. "Get ready for school, you have to leave in ten minutes!" Sighing, she took over the dishes from her daughter, allowing the young girl the time to change out of her pajamas and into something more suited for walking to school.

Kagome changed into some loose black Capri's that had a silver dragon winding up the right leg, and a plain black halter-top tank top that showed off her tough tummy muscles. Hey, spending all that time walking in the Feudal era paid off for something at least, like building up the muscles in her stomach, legs, and arms from carrying that back pack for so long.

Slipping on a plain pair of black and white gym shoes over her socks, Kagome ran back down the stairs, and into the living room, where Souta was preparing his backpack for the first day of school. Zipping up the zippers until it was fully closed, Souta slung it over his shoulder, almost toppling over from the weight of all his school supplies.

"Ready to go, squirt?" Kagome called, ruffling his hair a bit. He scowled and mussed his hair up so it looked like it had before Kagome had flattened it out. Unbrushed.

"Don't call me squirt, I'm in fourth grade now!" He shouted, and Kagome laughed. Turning away, she left, beckoning for Souta to follow. He hopped along behind her, trying to handle the weight of his backpack

When Kagome offered to carry it for him, he declined, muttering something about his 'cool sister' wanting to embarrass him by showing everyone he was weak, and how strong she was. Kagome laughed, shrugged, and continued on at a slower pace, making sure Souta could keep up. They ran into neighbors as they walked down the street, all waving hello to Kagome, and wishing her well.

"Higurashi!" Someone yelled, and inwardly, Kagome groaned. She put a smile on her face, though, and turned around to see Hojo running down the street towards them, with a huge box full of something.

"Hey, Hojo…" Kagome said, and muttered some select curses under her breath at her 'good' fortune. Muscles weren't the only thing Kagome had picked up from InuYasha and traveling around the Feudal era. Hojo had changed as well.

His once weak arms and flabby muscles had been toned down, and a light tan adorned his skin. Long brown hair flopped down in front of Hojo's face, only to be brushed away by a large hand. Kagome had never really seen him outside his school clothes, and he hadn't seen her either. Light brown shorts seemed way too small to be comfortable, and a tight green shirt went with the theme of the not-so-loose clothing he wore.

"I just wanted to drop something off." He said, the usual smile on his face.

"Thanks, I guess." Kagome said, muttering the last part. She motioned for Souta to move onwards towards the school.

"I was wondering if you were going to the festival in two weeks, the Saturday after school starts." Hojo questioned, still smiling. Did he ever frown? Or grin, or smirk even? Anything would be better than that annoying, constant, non-replaceable smile that was _always_ on his face.

"Uh…" She was at a loss for words. Of course she wanted to go, but if she said she was going, then Hojo would invite her to go with him, and Kagome just couldn't hurt his feeling by saying no.

"If you are, you could come with me." He bubbled, hopeful. He handed her the box.

"Uh… I'll have to get back to you on that." Kagome responded carefully, grabbing the box, and walking backwards slowly. "Gotta go, I think I hear Souta calling… Souta! Wait up!" She called, turning and running away quickly, towards her younger brother.

It only took a few more minutes before they reached the school, where it seemed every single kid in Japan played. Kagome, with a quick goodbye, soon lost sight of Souta in the crowd of kids playing at the playground. The bell rung, and they all lined up in front of the doors, some kids waved to waiting parents, while Souta was just too busy. When he caught sight of Kagome, though, he pointed her out to all of his friends and waved. She waved back, and turned and left when the teacher brought them inside.

Walking to the park nearby, Kagome sat down on a bench, and let out a deep breath. It had taken a lot of energy out of her by standing up to Hojo, even if it didn't seem like it. Hojo was just… what's the word, oh yes. _Boring_. So normal. He always smiled, always said nice things, so predictable.

Kagome needed a man in her life that was unpredictable, someone who you did not know what was going on in his mind. She had seen extreme action, so she needed someone who dealt with extreme action. It couldn't be some boring old school friend that liked to give you gifts and say kind words. It had to be someone adventurous, and different…

Sighing, she opened the box, only to find 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY' staring right back at her. A large, white, round cake was in the box, along with a small note from Hojo at the bottom. Kagome opened it, and blanched at reading the polite words of wisdom from her suitor.

_Dear Kagome,_

_I hope you are feeling alright after everything. You were gone in that hospital in America for so long! This cake is full of healthy vitamins and herbs that will help prevent your 'Evil-guy-named-Naraku-syndrome' from coming back._

So that was what her grandfather had come up with for her mysterious illness. She sweat-dropped at the name. '_'Evil-guy-named-Naraku-syndrome'? How bad can this get? Maybe I shouldn't have told them every single detail about Naraku. Grandpa would have come up with something more believable._' Kagome thought to herself, rolling her eyes.

_I know that your birthday isn't for another week or two, and that I could have given this to you when school starts, but I felt the need to give it to you earlier to prevent infections and irritations._

'_The only irritation I have is you…_' Kagome thought.

_Well, I hope you get better, and call me sometime to make up for all those missed dates! Stay in bed as long as you can, though, I don't want you getting any sicker than you already are. Oh, and Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi say hello and wish you much better. They are going to a different high school, while we are going to the same one! Can you believe our luck? Well, see you soon._

_Hojo._

'_Yeah, what luck._' Kagome said in her mind.

Standing up, Kagome picked up the box and walked through the exit of the park, past all the old ladies feeding pigeons, and all the tiny children not in school yet, playing at the park. Stopping at the exit, she found a trashcan and dumped the cake in there.

Kagome walked around for hours, until she headed back towards the school to pick up Souta. She had done nothing of great importance today, besides buying a new chain to put the Shikon No Tama on, and would make sure that it never fell off. It was a long chain, and so to Shikon No Tama fell just above her chest. To make sure it was safe from prying eyes, Kagome tucked it underneath her shirt.

Walking back towards the school, Kagome noticed she was three minutes late. Breaking into a run, the young miko ran through crowds of people, past allies and shops, until a strange, muffled noise made her stop. It came from an ally just off the street where she was running on towards the school.

Taking a few moments, Kagome debated whether she should go and see what was up in the ally and be a little bit later to pick up Souta than she already was, or should she just keep on going, ignoring the muffled noises that came from the ally like it was nothing. Being the kind-hearted person she was, of course Kagome walked into the dark ally.

Only to see four big thugs surrounding her little brother. She gasped, and a hand flew to her mouth in surprise. His backpack lay a little off to the side, and a small streak of blood was coming from the left corner of his mouth. Even though it was a small noise, it alerted the thugs of her presence, and they turned around to face her, tossing Souta into a nearby trash can.

"Oh look, boys, a little girly." The obvious leader said, grinning. The grin revealed three missing teeth, maybe even more that she couldn't see.

The brief space of time that their attention was off Souta was all Kagome needed. As always, her mind wasn't on getting out of this situation, but making sure Souta got out alright. "Souta! Run!" She cried, just as they grabbed her arms. He seemed hesitant, but ran away through the other end of the ally once he saw the urgency in his sister's eyes.

The thugs grunted and growled, but turned their attention back onto Kagome. "We were gonna be nice and play with ya a little first, but now I think we'll just beat the crap out of ya!" The leader said, and brought back his fist to punch her in the face.

**0o0o0o0o0**

MWUAHAHAHAHAHAHA! FACE MY EVIL WRATH!

Just kidding. Well, sort of.

Wow! Thanks! Here are my little notes for you guys!

Anybody fans of The Cure? (I don't own) The Cure is awesome… Well, give me a shout out if you are, thanks…

Your reviews were awesome, thank you guys! As much as last time would be appreciated, and I am very sorry that you had to wait so long for this update. Again, I hope my apology is accepted by my loving reviewers. Cookies for all who forgive me!

Here are the summaries to two of my new stories. Please vote and tell me which one sounds better:

1. **Blood:** Who could ever know that just a little bit of blood was all it needed to bring two lonely souls together? When a little bit turns into a lot, what's to do at a time like this besides panic? Ses+Kag

Well, this does not deal with the blood that runs through your veins, like heritage. No, it involves real blood, like when—well, you'll just have to wait. That summary sucks, I know.

2. **Into The Dark:** They were just another group of normal high school kids. You've got the violent one, the icy one, the perverted one, and the rude one. Oh, and don't forget the five-hundred year old girl you found pinned to a tree in a dark forest on your vacation last week… Bankotsu+Kagome+Sesshomaru

I haven't decided which pairing I want with Kagome yet…

Well, please

**REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!**

Love, Cat.


	3. Face Meets Fist

Dear all reviewers that wish for Kagome to kick ass:

Oh, do not worry, she will, just not yet. I mean, she hasn't been fully trained yet! (wink-wink, hint-hint)!

Oh yeah, and I'm sorry that I killed off InuYasha, I'll tell you why at the end.

NO FLAMES!

**0o0-Chapter-Three-0o0**

_Tiptoe to your room_

_A starlight in the gloom_

_I only dream of you_

_And you never knew_

_Sing For Absolution, By MUSE_

Just as a fist was about to plant itself in Kagome's face, a grunt was heard, and someone yelled. The arms holding her back loosened, and she broke free at the chance. Being kidnapped in the Feudal era those _many_, _many_ times taught one how to escape, get out of the way when necessary. Shoving herself away from the other thugs, Kagome opened her eyes.

In front of her lay the four thugs, the crap beaten out of each and every one of them. While one was bleeding from a cut on his leg, and cuts on his head, the others had scrapes and bruises on their arms and neck. But each one had a broken nose as well, blood dripping down their faces. There were also long, thin, red marks around their necks, like they had been held up by their necks.

And the hand that had held them up had had claws. The term is only _had_ because they were not here anymore, as Kagome realized, looking around. There was no one around, not even on the street when she ran out there. No one was running down the street, seemingly running away from the alley where they had just saved Kagome from a group of thugs.

Before going into the open street, the teenaged girl looked to both sides, wary of bystanders that had witnessed the whole thing. Kagome didn't want to be brought down to the police to explain something that she hadn't even seen. Taking a careful step out into the Tokyo sunlight, she broke into a run, and ran the whole way home back to the shrine, despite the fact that there were numerous cuts on her legs.

Opening the door, immediately she shut it and put her back against it, sliding down to the floor and sighing in exhaustion. Kagome opened her eyes to see a watery-eyed Souta staring at her.

"Yes?" She asked, quite peeved. Not only did she just save his butt, but also someone else had saved hers, and she didn't know who it had been.

"I-I. I was so scared!" He cried, and ran off the couch and towards her, slinging himself on his knees and hugging her tight, not letting go. That's what happened when your sister goes to the Feudal era too often, she start beginning to think she'll never come back.

Wrapping her arms around his small, ten-year-old body, she whispered sweet soothings into his ear. His cries subsided into small whimperings, and Kagome lowered her head to his ear, so he could hear her.

"Next time, stay inside the school until I come." She said, and they both laughed a small bit. This was something that stayed between brother and sister; their own little secret. '_Our own secret, I like that._' Souta thought.

**0o0o0o0o0**

The next week was the start of school for all high schoolers, including one named Kagome. However much her mind detested the idea of going back to school, having to wake up early, and all that _homework_, the miko knew she had to do it. There was no other way she could get into college, or get a decent job, or anything else she needed to support herself in life.

Sighing softly to herself, she rolled out of bed, feet first. Once her feet touched the floor, though, she instantly regretted the idea. It was freezing, despite the warmth of the outside. Souta must've turned up the air conditioning, making the temperature uneven in the different rooms of the house. Crud.

Despite the coldness, Kagome untangled herself from the warmth of her pile of blankets, walking slowly over to her closet. Opening the doors, she saw the last thing she ever wanted to see in her life. More uniforms. Except now they were a pinkish-magenta color. Worse than the green. She absolutely _hated_ pink.

Sighing once again, she picked out one of the uniforms and lay it out, getting undressed. '_At least they aren't as short as the ones from Junior High School._' She thought. Although, in Kagome's mind, skirts were impractical for fighting. The only reason she had worn her uniform to Feudal Japan was because she had had nothing else to wear.

Slipping on the skirt and pulling on the skirt, Kagome walked towards the kitchen for breakfast. If she had a say in it, there wouldn't be much fighting at all. No more demons! No more running around for jewel shards! No more missing school to go to the Feudal era to be with friends! Wait, she'd rather do that then go to school. '_No! don't think about it Kagome, they miss you as much as you miss them, but you have to move on!_'

'_What! My little voice is back! Wait… That's not a good thing, is it. Hey! Where were you when I DIED!_' Kagome screamed mentally at the little voice. A mental picture of a dark figure (the voice) huddled in a corner of her mind.

'_Uh… Vacation?_' it chirped, and Kagome glowered. Mrs. Higurashi, Kagome's grandfather, and Souta looked at Kagome strangely. She kept making strange faces, looking like she was having a mental battle with herself. Here she was, sitting at the kitchen table with her family, while they were eating breakfast, she was battling her other self.

Schizophrenic much?

'_Ooh! You stupid inner voice! Go away! Everything's over. I don't need your help anymore. Nope, I can deal with everything just fine._' Kagome mentally lashed out, her face red with anger.

'_Oh yeah? Well try explaining this to your family by yourself!_' It said, and receded back into her mind where Kagome could not feel, hear, or even sense it at all. Looking around, the miko saw the strange looks she was getting from all of the family members.

Ever so slowly, her grandfather reached out… And smacked a sutra on her forehead. Looking up at it cross-eyed, Kagome frowned and peeled the ward off of her head. Where it had been was now a red mark from her grandfather placing it on so harshly. Souta burst out laughing, and Mrs. Higurashi smiled and went back to fixing up Souta's breakfast.

"Hey sis! I knew you hated pink, but not enough to become schizophrenic!" He said, and screamed with laughter.

Launching herself over the table, Kagome grabbed her brother around the neck and picked him up. Holding him upside down by his feet, she brought him into the living room, where she picked up both of their backpacks, and walked out the door, leaving a chuckling Mrs. Higurashi, and a surprised grandfather, who muttered something along the lines of 'Kids these days, having mental conversations with themselves…'

Mrs. Higurashi shook her head, and picked their plates of the table and began to wash the dishes. She was glad Kagome was back to her old self, even if it was a bit different from before. Her daughter was certainly stronger than normal, but not as strong as a demon yet. The older woman just hoped that Kagome wouldn't get herself into trouble, something she often did in the Feudal era.

Walking down towards the sidewalk, Kagome up righted her brother and put him down on his feet. He stood dizzily, while wobbling back and forth on shaky legs. She smirked when he became so dizzy that he fell over onto his behind, not noticing at all. Pulling him up to his feet again, she threw his backpack at him.

"What'd you do that for?" Souta complained, holding his confused head. Kagome just laughed and ran down the sidewalk, Souta following behind, yelling at his 'cool' sister with fury.

"Nyah! Can't get me, Souta! I shall always be superior! Bow down! Bow down, I say!" She shouted as they entered the block with the elementary schools and junior high.

Slowing down, Kagome allowed Souta to catch up to her. They walked side by side down the street for a bit, making their way past other students going to junior high and high schools, and elementary schools. Kagome walked on, passing the arcade, not noticing Souta had stopped until she was a few yards away. Running back, she watched as her younger brother pressed his nose up against the glass, drooling slightly.

"Hey Souta," The girl started, and her brother took his gaze of the arcade for a moment. "How about I pick you up at the arcade today? As long as you go with a bunch of friends, though, we don't want a repeat of last week." Kagome smiled as shining stars appeared in Souta's eyes. He nodded enthusiastically and ran ahead towards his elementary school to tell his friends.

Waving goodbye, Kagome walked on down the street, trying to find her knew school. The directions to the high school had been clearly written out on a map, but the miko had left that at home, and was currently trying to find her way there by memory. So far, it wasn't going so well.

Glancing at her watch Kagome realized that she only had ten minutes to get there and into class. "Oh Shit!" She cried, and ran down the rest of the long street, stopping at the end when she saw some kids her age with uniforms like hers going into a building that looked as if it could be a high school.

Following them in, Kagome picked up her schedule from the office, and found her first class of the day. There were many students lounging around the classroom, some sitting in desks, others leaning on walls and chatting in groups. She found herself a desk near the back corner of the classroom, but not entirely in the back row. That row was reserved for punks and miscreants, something Kagome was definitely not.

Leaning back, Kagome caught sentences of other's conversations around her.

"…Did you see it last night? Kenji probably didn't, but he said he did. How are we supposed to believe him when he lies so much…?"

"…And then he just walked away! I'm like, Oh My Gosh! Did you just walk away from me? I mean, he is pretty hot, but Minamino is _way_ better…"

"…Yeah, I love it at this high school already! There are way hot guys here, did you think we have a chance…?"

Kagome almost smacked her head against the desk, they were so annoying. Was everyone in the world this shallow? Every conversation between the boys was what girls were hot, and what games were on last night and what bands were really popular. She grimaced when she heard her name mentioned in one of those conversations.

All of the girls' conversations were about hot guys, make up and break ups, along with every style of clothing Kagome had ever heard of. There was talk of who was new at the school, and if they were going to join the fan club. She didn't dare ask which fan club, for fear she would be mobbed by screeching girls. Most of the conversations were centered on a boy named Shuichi Minamino, some boy at the school that was a year older than herself.

Even if he was a year older, Kagome was in the same grade. When she had come back from the Feudal era, her mother had lectured that she had missed a whole year of school, and the entrance exams to high school. Kagome had gotten three weeks to study, and study her hardest she did. When the exam time came, Kagome had passed them so easily and with such good grades, that the committee had decided to move her up a grade.

Five more minutes. Five more minutes until the torture of having to listen to ditsy conversations was over. One more word about who was dating who, or who had disobeyed the dress code, and Kagome was just about to explode. That was when a face leaned down and chocolate brown eyes gazed into her own bright blue ones.

"Hm. Covering ears… Girls screeching giddily about shallow topics… Take deep breathes, girl, no exploding inside the school!" The girl said. She stood back up, and Kagome looked at her.

The girl that stood in front of Kagome looked a lot like a demon would in disguise. Yet, as Kagome checked the girl's aura, she found no traces of youki, or anything murderous, like youkai usually did. What was strange was the blonde hair that was cut above the shoulders, and tied back in a ponytail, her eyebrows thin and dark. Red lipstick adorned her lips as dark eye shadow decorated her chocolate brown eye lids.

She, like every other girl in the whole high school, wore the uniform that Kagome wore as well, but it hung loosely on her thin figure. Black combat boots wound up her legs and ended at her knees. The girl held out a hand towards Kagome.

"Name's Suka. You seem different than the other ditsy people here. You knew?" She asked, taking as seat beside the one Kagome sat in, and gazing at her.

"Yes. I'm Kagome. Thank you. Have any way to shut them up?" Kagome answered, and Suka smirked. Standing up, she shouted to the crowd of people in the classroom.

"I think I saw Minamino down the hall when I was walking in!" Everyone stopped short in their conversations and looked at the punkish girl. There was much scrambling, biting, and even more screeching as a horde of girls clawed their way past each other to get into the hall to see their precious 'Shuichi'.

"Thanks. But who is this 'Shuichi'?" Kagome asked, sliding to face Suka. Once again, Suka smirked at the younger girl.

"You must be _really_ new, not to know of Minamino." She continued. " Minamino is the most popular guy in school, you could say. With the girls, that is. He's everything a prissy girl wants. Hotness, politeness, and way smart. He hangs around with the Urimeshi kid from Sarayashiki junior high. Hm. Maybe he's in high school? No, I don't think so, but I'll have to check up on it.

"Anyways, he's the star of the school, perfect for every girl. For some guys, too. I won't get into that, though. Strange thing is that he has red hair and bright emerald green eyes. He's kind of like you, 'cause your eyes are weird. Did you know they were electric blue? What am I saying, of course you know. It's awesome…" Suka kept on rambling with things that she thought would be great with Kagome's eyes, while Kagome's thoughts drifted onto this Minamino fellow.

'_So he has different hair and eyes, huh? Hm. I'll have to check it out, just to see if he's a demon in disguise. Sounds too perfect for any normal human to be, but better safe then sorry._' Kagome was brought out of her thoughts when Suka asked her a question.

"…long, you know. Kagome? Kagome! Are you even listening to me?" Kagome brought her bright blue eyes up to Suka's chocolate brown ones. Suka sighed and started over.

"Like I was saying, those eyes would go great with highlights or tips. I was thinking that we could skip the lunch hour and go to this little place I know down the street. They can put highlights in your hair in fifteen minutes, taking only five minutes to dry, and they stay in for two months! After a while, though, you might want to get them brightened."

"Uh… I don't know, what if it doesn't look good? Are we even allowed to?" She asked, wary of Suka's sparkling eyes.

"Oh yeah, people do it all the time. Only geeks stay at school for lunch." Suka stated, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, but—" Kagome was interrupted when Suka snorted.

"Fine, if you're so scared, I'll do it with you. What color?" She asked, looking pointedly at the younger girl sitting across from her.

A wicked grin appeared on Kagome's face, as she replied, "Green." What contrast that would be compared to the all-natural blonde color of Suka's hair. Suka grinned as well, and they planned out their lunch hour.

Soon, the bell rung, and everyone was to be seated. The teacher went through introductions for the new school year, introducing Kagome as the new student who had been brought up a grade. She stood up and bowed a little, but then immediately sat back down in her desk. They went through the day the same way, until lunch hour came, that is.

"So you ready?" Suka asked, slinging her small orange and black backpack over her shoulders. She motioned for Kagome to follow as she stood up.

"Alright." Kagome replied, slightly nervous.

They walked out of the building and down the schoolyard's path that led to the street. Along the way down the street towards the hair-stylist, they thought of something they could do together on Friday. The two girls agreed on hanging around Tokyo Friday night, planning to hit the secret clubs Suka somehow knew about. Entering the hair-stylist place, Kagome looked around, and was led to a chair while Suka was led to the next to her.

"Ready?" Kagome's new friend asked.

"Yeah. Electric blue highlights for me, while this little lady," Kagome grinned, motioning towards Suka, "will have neon green ones."

**0o0o0o0o0**

When the two girls returned to school that afternoon, they each got many compliments on their hair, and soon the news was burning around the school like a wildfire. While Kagome's highlights were just electric blue streaks through her hair, the hairdresser had messed up on Suka's, and had died her whole head of hair green. Neon green. Can you say, woops? Because of that, both of their highlights were free.

And although Suka got compliments on her new hair color, Kagome was the one that received the most attention around the school. Mainly from the males of the school, that is. Sure, the girls that weren't prissy (mainly the ones without boyfriends fawning over her) complimented both the girls' hair, everyone knew Kagome's hair seemed better. Even, not jealously of course, Suka agreed.

"I've dyed my hair tons of times, and it's never turned out as good as those streaks do in your hair." Suka said between classes later that day.

Kagome grinned. "Yeah. Although, that green is an awesome color on you. Maybe I should dye my whole head of hair electric blue next time." Kagome replied, twirling an electric blue streak between her middle finger and thumb.

The last class they had that day was a free period, and so they decided to go to the library to read and study. Well, more like talk and plan out their special outing that was going to happen on Friday. The bell rung once again, and Suka said her goodbyes and left, but Kagome stayed seated at the table in the library for a while. She wanted to check up on something…

**0o0o0o0o0**

Kurama was walking down the long school hallway, heading towards the library. Right now, his last class, was a free period, and he chose to take it in the library. His demonic senses heard the giggling and shushing coming from behind him, and he knew that a group of girls were following him. When were they not? It was something he had to be used to by now, or else he'd be in for the shock of a lifetime.

Oh yes, he knew about all the times that those girls followed him to his home. Though, whenever that happened, he always made sure he lost them before actually reaching his home, for privacy reasons. Hiei was always smirking in a tree near his house when that happened, enjoying Kurama's misery. He always made a point to close the window those nights.

He had been awake when one of those girls had looked up his files and broken into his room one night, and tried to steal a lock of his hair. Kurama had received a mental message from Hiei, who had just—by chance—been in the area, and noticed that a normally screeching fan girl was on the loose and had broken into the fox's house. Sending a mental message back to Hiei to get the girl out of the room, Hiei complied.

It had taken many death threats that included some topics along the lines of some '_pretty_' images that Youko had created in his mind and sent over to the small apparition's, and also a very not-so-death-threat-as-much-as-sexual-threat images, courtesy of Youko. Kurama was still haunted by those, and unaware to the fox, so was Hiei himself. Yes, they had been _that_ detailed.

According to his hearing, if he heard correctly, which he always did, there were two girls following him. Both he recognized as girls from his class, both a part of his fan club. Even though, they were more tolerable than the others, because they seemingly wanted to only make friends, first. Yeah, only at first, they did. Everyone knew it was just another insidious plot to… yeah.

Sighing, Kurama walked into the library and past the front desk, heading towards the section with books on legends. A wave of frustration washed over him as the two girls came into the same row of shelves, seemingly innocent. The bell rung, and many students and teachers left, while he stayed. So did the two girls.

"Oh! Shuichi!" One of them, with long, wavy brown hair exclaimed. "Surprise seeing you here! Tomoyo-chan and I were just walking around, searching for some—" She paused, looking at the books on the shelf beside her. "Some books on ancient heritage lines…?" She made the statement into a question, once seeing the type of books Kurama was looking at.

Kurama rolled his eyes and sighed mentally. '_How far will they go? I don't need anyone breaking into my house again. I don't think Hiei would be able to stand any more of your precious images, Youko. I couldn't either. Why did it have to be _me_? Why couldn't it have been you in that place?_'

'_I have those stored away for another day._' Youko left him hanging with a sense of dread.

"…come with us?" The girl in front of him asked, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Hm?" He asked, politely, of course. "Can you please repeat that phrase Miss…"

"Asuka." She replied. "Are you going to the festival in two weeks? And if so, you could come with us!" Asuka suggested. Apparently she couldn't keep the ditzy hopeful tone out of her voice for one moment. "I mean, if you don't want to go with Tomoyo-chan, I understand, and she will too, we can just go—" Asuka was interrupted when a book hit her in the back of the head.

"Are you alright, Miss Asuka?" Kurama asked, crouching down to where the girl had fallen over on the floor. '_We wouldn't want to you to lose any _more _brain cells than you already have._' Youko helped, and mentally Kurama chuckled.

"Oh yes, she'll be alright. Just knocked up—I mean, knocked out at the moment." Another girl—most likely the one referred to as Tomoyo stated, smirking slightly. This girl was no different in looks than the other, besides the shorter cut black hair, holding herself with an attitude of superficial arrogance.

"If you're sure." Kurama mumbled, standing up and dusting off his uniform.

"Oh, I'm _positive_." Tomoyo, said and curtsied. "Tomoyo Suzahara, at your _personal_ service." She emphasized personal to a degree where the word was so thickly covered with supposed seductism, it would have sunk to the bottom of the ocean were you to drop it there.

"Pleasure to meet you, Miss Suzahara." Kurama responded.

He turned around from the girl and towards the shelves, pulling out the specific book he had been looking for. The title read '_Ancient Japanese Legends,_'. The only way to tell if a book on legends was really true or not was if it was old, leather bound, and looked as if it was about to fall apart. In other words, if it looked like crap.

Just as he pulled the book off the shelf, efficiently creating an opening to see through the shelves and towards a table by the windows, something caught his gaze. Or rather, someone caught his gaze. Kurama could not see her face, or the front of her at all, but her hair was a deep black, with electric blue highlights. '_Strange, blue highlights shouldn't be so bright in someone with black hair's hair, unless…_' He trailed off on his thoughts, a small sense of apprehension surged through him at that moment.

'_Unless she was, or went to a demon…_' Youko finished for him. Kurama swallowed the lump in his throat but still gazed at the back of the girl's head.

So caught up in trying to understand the girl by staring at the back of her head, he did not notice when Tomoyo started to rock back and forth on her feet, a glare on her mousy face. He did not notice when she almost began to _growl_ at the lack of attention she was receiving. Nor did he notice when, at last, Asuka awoke, rubbing her head and whining about evil friends, and evil books that were dangerous to one's sanity. Or brain cells. She didn't state that, though.

Tomoyo, fed up with the absence she was acquiring, wanted to know what had gained Shuichi's attention instead of herself. Gazing through another gap in the shelves, she gasped and glared at the girl that was taking her special attention away. It was that new girl, the one who had recently—recently as in the past three hours—gotten her hair streaked.

And although Tomoyo hated to admit it, the streaks were the best looking she had ever seen. Better than the ones that she had gotten just weeks before, that nobody had even noticed. Not even Asuka, who had been there when she had gotten the streaks. '_Stupid friends who don't notice anything obvious…_' She muttered in her head.

"Who is she…" Kurama mumbled, unaware that anyone was listening, not expecting an answer. He was shocked when he got one, although he didn't show it.

"Oh her? Don't bother with that one, Shuichi-kun, that's Kagome." Tomoyo said.

"Yeah, she's weird. I heard that there's always something weird around her, it's like a feeling you get! It's creepy!" Asuka countered, popping up from the ground.

"I'm sure it's not as weird as they say, Asuka-san, Tomoyo-san." Kurama defended. She didn't look any different than normal. No, actually, she looked quite pretty.

"Oh! But I've felt it! All you have to do is walk past her, and you get the feeling like something is glaring at you, and telling you to get your ass away from there! And another time, I was approaching her from behind, and just before I could reach her, something crashed down right in front of me! I was so scared, that I just ran away from that place! It's creepy as hell, it is." Asuka explained, adding emotion to the situation by waving her arms around in the air.

"Yes! And she's always sick! Last year, I heard she was sick in bed more times than she was in school!" Tomoyo added her own bit.

"Hmm." Kurama muttered, and walked past the girls and around the bookshelf where they were hiding. The two girls called after him, but he either didn't notice, or just didn't care. The redheaded boy walked up to the girl sitting at the library table.

Scattered across the table were dozens of large, thick books that looked old. And as Kurama stepped closer, his eyes widened considerably and he let forth a small gasp. Every single book on the table was about monsters, myths, and legends. And not just any old myth, legend, or monster, no. They were all specifically about demons. The kind of demon that could walk among the humans, or attack the weak. There was even a book on the three worlds—reikai, ningenkai, and makai—thrown into the mix.

"What—" He started, but was stopped when a book dropped from the air to in front of his feet. Not just a plain old book, no. The title read '_Demon Beware_'. Obviously a message.

'_So they were right. Weird things are happening, and there is a strange feeling around her. But why? This girl obviously isn't doing anything._' Kurama thought, staring down at the book. He used a bit of his senses to feel around the area for something suspicious. And sure enough, there was something, although it was barely detectable. There seemed to be a miniscule amount of Spirit energy mixed with a demonic aura. It was such a small amount, that if he hadn't had a Kitsune spirit inside of him, he wouldn't have been able to detect it at all.

Yet, it was there. This girl had a demon guardian watching over her. The question was, why?

"Don't even think about it, demon. I don't care what you want, I'll just beat you if you ask for a fight." The girl said, startling him. Kurama walked around her so he could sit across from her at the table.

He noticed four things. First, there really did seem to be a strange feeling like someone was glaring at you. But when you looked around, there was no one there that appeared to be glaring at you. Small earphones were tucked in the girl's ears, and with his demonic hearing Kurama could hear an American band playing. He couldn't understand the words, but he could recognize the music.

Second, was that she had noticed him. No normal human girl would have been able to hear him through the blasting of the music, however loud the drop of the book.

Third, she had called him demon. Once again, no normal human girl would have known that he was a demon. Although, maybe she was a nutcase, who read these books about demons, and went around calling everyone demon, and threatening to beat them up. She looked up from her book at him.

Fourth, she had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. An electric blue in color, they seemed to glow in the murky light of the library. They matched the blue highlights of her hair perfectly.

Pulling the headphones out of her ears, she tapped her fingers against the tabletop and waited impatiently. Kurama's mouth opened, as if he was going to speak, but then closed when he realized he had nothing _to_ say. Kagome, seeing his speechlessness and surprise, smirked.

She stood up, and waited for him to say something, anything. Kurama stood up as well, knowing that when a lady stood, so should the gentleman. His piercing green eyes stared intensely into her own bright blue ones, and neither of the two blinked. They both walked around their sides of the table, and were inches apart when something hit the ground between them, and they jumped back.

It was a large, leather-bound book that seemingly dropped out of nowhere. A squeal was heard, and the two brown pairs of eyes that belonged to Tomoyo and Asuka disappeared from behind the bookshelf and away, out of the library.

The title of the book read '_Demon Beware,_' once again. The same message, to the demon. As Kagome's eyes flicked down to look at the title, her mouth parted in a semi-gasp. Instantly she stepped back, gathered her books off the table, and ran out of the library, not stopping when the librarian yelled at her for running through the library, when it was strictly forbidden.

Kurama stared at the place where the girl had just stood moments before. When she had run away, the strange feeling off glaring had disappeared as well. And, although it was highly impossible, he could have sworn that he had heard someone, or something growling at him when they had approached each other. No one else was in the library to have experienced this incident, besides Tomoyo and Asuka, who had run away instantly.

He sighed, turned around, and walked out of the library, contemplating when he would see the girl again, and what he would do about it.

**0o0o0o0o0**

Running until she reached the park near Souta's school, Kagome sat down on a bench to catch her breath. She panted slightly as her face was flushed with the intense running. At break-neck speed she had run out of that library, away from the demon, and anything that could have harmed her.

She was thankful for InuYasha for stopping that connection that would have purified the innocent demon. Yes, Kagome knew who it was that was guarding her, watching over her to make sure she was perfectly safe.

**0o0-Flash-Back-0o0**

Sighing, Kagome shook out her clothes. A small clank was heard as something bounced out of the pocket of her skirt and onto the floor. Placing the pile of dirty clothes on top of the washing machine, she bent down and picked it up.

Much to her surprise, it was a figure that was a little bigger than her hand. Maybe someone larger and more masculine's hand, someone like InuYasha… It was created of wood, and looked like two figures that were standing side-by-side. Upon closer inspection, Kagome realized the two people of the figure to be InuYasha, and, surprisingly, herself.

There was InuYasha, standing loud and proud, and astonishingly holding the other person of the figure's hand. Which was herself. While they were both in their normal clothes of a fire rat haori, and her school uniform from when she was in middle school.

The strange part was that InuYasha's person was bright and alive with color, like the redness of his haori and the golden color of his eyes. His silvery-white hair glimmered slightly as it trailed down his back, and the sheet of the Tetsusaiga shined its natural black sheen.

And while InuYasha was vibrant and exciting with color, Kagome's person was plain and white, boring, just as a wood figure should have been. The coloring on InuYasha's figure did not look like paint, nor did it look like a plastic figure made from colored plastic. It would not be possible, since Kagome's figure was made out of a strange, smooth wood.

The only colored part of Kagome's person was her plain brown loafers that adorned her feet. Nothing else on her was colored. Her figure looked plain and sickly against the brightness of InuYasha's.

"I don't ever remember getting this. And why is InuYasha's figure colored, while only my feet are? It's not fare!" Kagome said to herself aloud, staring down at the figure. "And who would have the time to create such a detailed figure without either of us noticing? It wasn't Sango or Miroku, and I don't think it was Shippou…"

She ran her thin fingers over the extreme details of the figure, finding that each and every curve or dip was correctly placed. From the small dip under their bottoms lips, to the rough texture of InuYasha's fir rat haori, every texture, and every dip and crevice was properly placed. So much detail, yet how did she have this?

Suddenly, Kagome felt something brush up against her right ear, pushing a stray tendril of obsidian-colored hair out of the way, and something she recognized to be lips skimmed against her ear.

Turning around so fast that she acquired whiplash, Kagome faced the intruder who dare send shivers down her spine. She glared at the trespasser… Only to find no one there. Where she faced stood no one, the only thing her vision was the wall of the laundry room.

Quite clearly, a voice like the wind whispered in her ear. '_Kagome… Forget me… I'll still be watching over you, protecting you like I said I always would…_' It was like the voice of the wind that had reached her with Kikyo's words, only this time they seemed to be coming from somewhere closer, and not from the wind. No, this time, they seemed to be coming from someone itself…

Yet, there was no one there.

Instantaneously, Kagome knew who the one who had spoken the words was, and she understood. It was like the memories of what InuYasha had gone through in the volcano, and the old hag named Amane. The meaning of the figure surged through her, and Kagome understood what was to happen.

She was only partially over InuYasha. The figure was not for her to forget InuYasha, it was not for her to leave him behind. It was for her to forget the pain of loosing him, and to forget the pain that came with realizing what he had done for her. Kagome could never forget his love, nor could she forget that he had sacrificed himself for her.

That was not the point of the figure. It was to soak up the sadness, and leave her with the happiness that she always had. The reason why only her feet were colored was because Kagome had only gotten over the smallest amount of pain possible, and not everything.

Only when all her pain of InuYasha was gone, would the figure be fully colored, as vibrant as the colors on the one standing next to her own person.

'_Forget, Kagome… Forget…_' It whispered in her ear again, sending deep shivers up her spine. Kagome knew, by the voice, by the sound, and by the words that it was InuYasha.

"Yes… I'll try to, InuYasha." She replied, speaking to the air.

'_No, don't try, Kagome… You have to promise that you WILL forget… Please… For me, Kagome, forget me…_' It called, louder and louder, until finally it almost reached the volume of someone speaking normally, in their 'inside' voice. Tears burned at the back of Kagome's eyes as she tried to blink them away. For InuYasha's sake.

"Yes, I promise I will. If it makes you happy." She choked, trying to remove the lump in her throat that came with the tears that burned at the back of her eyes.

As the tears sat on the brim of her eyes, threatening to overspill, Kagome swiped at them angrily, brushing them away. She had already cried all she needed, and there was no point now. The first step in forgetting the pain was feeling none, which meant there would be no need to cry.

"I promise." Kagome sniffed, and stood straight. She had expected an answer from InuYasha, his voice whispering in her ear like the wind, but what she got was not what she expected.

A sudden burst of sound was what her real answer was. Following the loud burst of noise, it brought Kagome into the living room, where the stereo was bursting with a beautiful song. There was no one home besides herself, so she knew that it was InuYasha who had played the song for her. Just for her…

(_A/N: I rarely put in Author's notes right in the story, because I think they are annoying, but I have to right here because I'm including a song. Blue And Yellow is properly owned by The Used, not me. I couldn't find any other song that fit better, and this one came to mind first, but what the hell._)

_Blue And Yellow _

_  
And it's all in how you mix the two  
and it starts just where the light exists  
it's a feeling that you cannot miss  
and it burns a hole through everyone that feels it_

_well you're never gonna find it  
if you're looking for it  
won't come your way  
well you'll never find it  
if you're looking for it_

_should've done something but I've done it enough  
by the way your hands were shaking  
rather waste some time with you_

_and you never would have thought in the end  
how amazing it feels just to live again  
it's a feeling that you cannot miss  
it burns a hole through everyone that feels it_

_well you're never gonna find it  
if you're looking for it  
won't come your way  
well you'll never find it  
if you're looking for it_

_should've done something but I've done it enough  
by the way your hands were shaking  
rather waste some time with you_

_should've said something but I've said it enough  
by the way my words were faded  
rather waste some time with you_

_waste some time with you 5x_

_should've done something but I've done it enough  
by the way your hands were shaking  
rather waste my time with you _

_should've said something but I've said it enough  
by the way my words were faded  
rather waste my time with you_

_should've done something but I've done it enough  
by the way my hands were shaking  
rather waste some time with you_

_waste some time with you 7x_

_whispering:  
should've done something but I've done it enough  
by the way your hands were shaking  
rather waste some time with you_

Collapsing to the ground, Kagome cried. Despite the fact that she was crying tears of sadness and pain, nothing stopped her. She wailed and sobbed her eyes, but no one heard, no one saw, and no one was there to comfort her. No one ever noticed she had wept so hard that, after a while, her eyes had almost bled because there were no more tears. She cried as hard as she could, as much as she could, with no one there to notice or comfort her as she cried. No one ever knew.

Just the way she wanted it to be.

**0o0-End-Flash-Back-0o0**

From that day on, Kagome had vowed that she would not shed another single tear over InuYasha. That was just the way he always wanted it to be, each and every day without tears. And if it made InuYasha happy, then Kagome would do all she could to make sure she never cried again.

Glancing down at her watch, she exclaimed, "Oh, shit!" Jumping up, she ran out of the park and towards the arcade where she had told Souta to meet her after school.

And although she enjoyed it when her younger brother was safe an happy, she had asked him to go with a big group of friends. Which meant that she would most likely be the one to get stuck with making sure they got home alright and safe without getting beat up or mugged. Happy Day.

Kagome slowed down when she neared the video game arcade, catching her breath before making an entrance. Pulling open the door to the arcade, the light streamed in through the open doorway, and the kids at the nearest games gaped at her. Here she was, a beautiful teenage girl, in the land of kids who didn't get enough sun.

"Sis!" A voice shouted out to her through the beeping and electronical music of the games. She followed the voice to a small, dark corner where a group of small kids were seeking refuge and hiding. A group of kids that were her younger brother and his friends, to be exact. Souta beamed up at his 'cool' older sister, although Kagome noticed his gaze looking around hesitantly.

"Why are you guys over here in the corner?" She asked, worriedly. Frowning, she looked around to see where Souta kept glancing.

"W-well, we were playing on this one game… and-and—" One of Souta's friends, who Kagome didn't know started, but choked and shivered before he could finish.

"And this HUGE kid came, and kicked us off! He threatened to beat our guts out or something! While this other, REALLY tall guy came and just stood there stupidly!" Satoru finished for him excitedly. Blinking, Kagome realized that this was the same kid who had been in a coma, and had been haunted by his older, yet dead, sister.

For weeks Souta had been afraid his sister would die, knock him into a coma, and then haunt him for the rest of his artificial life, despite how many times Kagome had claimed she would never do that. It just shows how kids and their over-active Imaginations acted these days.

Anger surged through her as Kagome kicked into 'older-sister mode'. Demanding first where this kid was, she walked over to the video gamer playing a game next to him.

"Hey, who's that kid right there?" Kagome whispered in the kid's ear.

He trembled slightly, but whispered back. "That's Urameshi! He's the biggest punk in the whole city!" Kagome's eyes narrowed.

Walking over behind 'Urameshi,' Kagome observed him while he was too absorbed in his game to notice her there. He was only two or three inches taller than herself, although he was probably a year younger. He wore an all green uniform, clearly rebelling against the color code of his school. His hair was slicked back, but Kagome had a good feeling that he would look much better if it wasn't.

"Hey Urameshi!" She called, and he whirled around to face her.

But before he could see her something happened.

That day, Yusuke Urameshi's face met fist.

**0o0o0o0o0**

I'm sorry if that chapter was very choppy and misshapen, but the reason for that is because I spent three weeks working on it, and every day I added a bit more. So there are many mixed feelings from different days.

So no flames, because I did my best!

**0o0-Next-Chapter-0o0**

**Title:** Red-Eyed Peeping Hiei!

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!" Kagome shouted at the figure in the tree, clutching her small towel tighter around her body.

**0o0o0o0o0**

Personally, I like the title of the next chapter… I hope you do to…

The reason I killed off InuYasha is because I have a hard time believing that Kagome would be able to move on when InuYasha was still alive. So, the only way to get her move on is if InuYasha betrayed her, or if he dies. And I write enough fanfics where InuYasha betrays her, and so I thought it was time that I write one where he dies. Sorry!

No, he won't be coming back, but his spirit will prove some great trouble!

Vote:

Kagome should be a demon. (0)

Kagome should not be a demon. (0)

Well, I'm sorry that I wasted your time by putting that song in, and I would've written one myself, but it's midnight, and I have to cut my hair right now, hopefully my parents are asleep and won't notice until tomorrow morning…

Please, please, please: **REVIEW! **

Thanks for the reviews last time, I would like about as much for this chapter!

Feel free to ask me any questions.

**REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!**

Eggnog and cookies, MERRY CHRISTMAS, Love Cat.


	4. RedEyed Peeping Hiei

Welcome to the fourth chapter of This Modern Love. To tell you the truth, I named this story after one of my favorite songs, and it will make sense later on, when I explain it in someone's thoughts. You'll just have to wait till then.

To make a few points:

One: Thank you for all of the reviews and to all the people who voted so far!

Two: To answer all of your questions, here. If I were to turn Kagome into a demon, then she would be an inu-youkai. Reasons at end of chapter.

Three: Well, this isn't a point, but a question.

To ones who want Kagome demon: Would you stop reading if I kept Kagome human?

To ones who want Kagome human: Would you stop reading if I turned Kagome demon?

Four: Voting doesn't end until further on in the story.

Five: No offense, but I'm leaning towards the human Kagome, only because I don't want this story to be like any other story with KurKag. I want this story to be unique, well liked, and popular for what it is.

Sorry to waste your time, read and review. Enjoy!

**0o0-Chapter-Four-0o0**

**0o0-Red-Eyed--Peeping-Hiei-0o0**

_Clutching my cure_

_I tightly lock the door_

_I try to catch my breath again_

_I hurt much more_

_Than anytime before_

_I had no options left again_

_Breaking The Habit, by Linkin Park_

Kagome smirked as she heard the satisfying crunch that meant her victim's nose had broken. It wasn't often that she planted a sincerely true punch in someone's face, but when her fist was really stuck into someone's nose like it was now, she knew this was what it felt like when demons went on a killing spree. Except that this wasn't a killing spree.

Earlier, as in right before her fist made its way into his face, she had felt the power that this Urameshi kid held. It was slightly demonic, hinting of demonic heritage in the bloodlines, but there was another energy. All humans had spirit energy, just some had more than others.

Take herself, for example. She had more spirit energy because she was a miko, and all her spirit energy was completely pure. The purest miko in the history of the world; that was what she was. Even more pure than Kikyo. And she could hold that against the undead miko and InuYasha, but being the pure miko she was, she did not.

There was no way that Kagome could do something as horrible as that to an innocent person. Well, Kikyo wasn't that innocent, having tried to kill Kagome plenty of times and trying to get InuYasha to either come to hell with her or wish her back alive. Well, there was that _one_ time when she actually did kill Kagome, but all that was said and done, no point in thinking back upon it.

InuYasha could be blamed just as easily, as well, because of everything he had done; every crime he had committed. The hanyou had deteriorated the young miko for as long as the two had known each other, and it just wasn't nice. Always comparing her to Kikyo, complaining, everything. But she couldn't hold it against him.

Never in her life would Kagome hold it against him or Kikyo that she was more pure, a better miko than Kikyo had ever been. And although InuYasha would never admit it, and Kikyo would never state it, they had both known that Kagome was more pure than Kikyo, and stronger. They had been scared at the time.

Bringing up memories of the Feudal era, InuYasha, and Kikyo, Kagome now curiously wondered where the undead miko had wandered off to. It would be hard to imagine that she had survived all these years into the future, but since the undead miko was just that, undead, she wouldn't age. Not like a youkai, who slowly aged, Kikyo just never grew a year older.

A growl alerted Kagome to take her head out of the clouds and push all those thoughts back into her head until later. She looked at the face in which her fist was embedded. Her electric blue eyes stared into deep brown ones as both pairs hardened.

Although she had just broken his nose – for all you who want to know in how many places, it was three –, it would most likely heal within the next two to three days. Like said before, Yusuke Urameshi was not a normal human. It would take a few weeks at least for a normal human nose to heal, but his would heal much, much sooner than that. And it was all thanks to the demonic blood that ran through his veins.

Sticky blood slowly dripped out of Yusuke's nose and down his face in small streams, running over his mouth and chin. They dribbled down his neck and stained his all-green uniform. As if _that_ had never happened. Except, most of the time, it was usually someone else's blood, instead of his.

How he always got the bloodstains out, know one knows.

When Kagome had first shouted his name out in the musty darkness of the video game arcade, every single kid had stopped to stare at them. And when they had seen Kagome's fist head straight for his face, they had all cringed, the ones closer to the pair moving far away. No one would want to be on the receiving line of Urameshi's anger right then.

He growled again, and stretched back his fist and prepared to slam it into the girl's face, like she had done to him. Although he hated to admit it, that had actually _hurt_. Not as bad as most of the demons that had punched his face before, but definitely a large amount of pain. His nose stung badly, and he knew it was broken.

As his hand surged forward, destined to hit it's target: Kagome's face, it was stopped inches away. Small, skinny fingers surrounded his hand as it brought his fist down abruptly, sending him hurtling to the ugly red-carpeted floor of the arcade. Kuwabara yelped as someone slammed him down on top of Yusuke, knocking him unconscious and rendering Yusuke's attempts to get up useless.

Slowly Kagome turned, and walked away from the two – well, one conscious one – on the floor. Yusuke watched as her long, creamy legs sauntered towards the door that led out of the arcade, watching as her hips swayed side-to-side, innocently seductive. For the third time in two minutes, he growled, realizing that he had just been beat. By a girl who had the nicest legs he had ever seen, although he hated to admit it.

Kagome had left already, but one kid had stayed. Yusuke recognized him as one of the kids he had kicked off the video game he had been trying to play, when he was so _rudely_ interrupted by receiving a strong fist in his face. Let's just call it an early birthday present.

"And that, folks, is why you don't mess with the one who saved my life, my guardian angel, and my hero, Kagome Higurashi!" Satoru cried, his fist striking the air.

**0o0o0o0o0**

When they had seen her fist head straight for Urameshi's face, Souta and his friends had hightailed it out of there as fast as they possible could have. Running as fast as she could, Kagome caught up with the boys a few streets down when they had run out of breath.

The first thing she noticed was that the happy demeanor of Satoru wasn't bouncing around and scaring the others. Which meant that he had just keeled over, dead with lack of breath from running, or wasn't there. Hoping it was the latter, Kagome looked around, and noticed – with relief – that he wasn't there. Which meant that he was back at the video game arcade, stuck there with Urameshi. It wasn't that she thought Satoru couldn't handle himself, she was just scared that the Urameshi kid would pound him in for being in an alliance with someone who had just whipped his butt.

Meaning, if you were someone 'in alliance with someone who had just whipped his but,' meant that there was a chance that he would go after him. Now, in actuality, Yusuke would never do that, to a kid especially. For Kami's sake, he had _died_ in order to save a kid's life. But did Kagome know that? No. She had thought that this big punk had pushed her brother off his video game turn, and so she had done the most rational thing that had come to mind at the time.

Now, this wasn't the Kagome we know and love. The Kagome we know is one that couldn't usually fight besides her bow and arrow, or her purifying powers. She was supposed to be too pure to punch someone, mean to her younger brother or not. But it had come as instinct to fight or flight, and flight was not an option.

Even though she didn't know about it, she was the coolest thing that they had ever seen, in Souta's friend's eyes. She was their hero, the 'cool older sister' that would come to her brother's side in a matter of seconds, no matter how much trouble she was in at the time. And even though she hadn't known it, Kagome wouldn't have wanted to appear as a wimp in front of anyone, even if it was only an eleven year old.

That was not an option. Kagome had been through much worse, having been kidnapped – thinking back upon it – more than ten times. Or, so she thought it was. But that was off topic. She had been beat up and pounced on, and bled so many times through so many different wounds, that it was nothing new.

Been through all of that. She had been threatened, had had so many near-death encounters that she was now able to predict everything, making it so nothing was unexpected. There was no longer anything anywhere close to a surprise, since she had expected it. Not that it mattered anymore.

There was nothing in then future that could hurt her anymore.

No portals to suck her into different worlds.

No people to yell at her for not being good enough.

No ache from seeing the death of a loved companion.

No more demons to inflict wounds upon her already scarred body.

No new love to hurt her more than she was pained already.

Or so she thought.

How could she predict that there _was_ something out there? How could she know that there was _so_ much more pain here than that of the past? How could she know anything, even if it was predicted?

Easy. Kagome foretold things with her mind. To see the real future, though, she would have to see ahead into the future with the one thing she never wanted to use again. The one thing that had betrayed her so many times, that kept the pain she held deep inside her, not allowing her to let go.

She would have to foretell with her heart.

**0o0o0o0o0**

Later, after she scolded Souta and his friends for running away from her at a time like that, they all went home. And, as she had thought so before, it had been up to Kagome to walk them all home. After a while, and to everyone's relief, Satoru had jogged up with a huge grin plastered to his face. And when Souta had asked why, he just brushed it off by shaking his head, the grin, if it was possible, just growing bigger.

Sighing, Kagome lay her head down on her soft pillow, relishing the tranquility that washed over her. It had taken a whole two hours to walk everyone home, and then she had had to do homework, and eat dinner, and take a bath. Well, she hadn't minded to bath. The warm water always soothed her, running over her body in streams that washed away all of the bad thoughts.

There was no doubt that, even though it would only be her second day, tomorrow would be filled with just as much, if not more, excitement. Kagome knew from experience that when one day was filled with peace, the next day would always come with battles or war. Like calm before the storm.

'_It always rains before it storms._' Kagome thought, thinking back upon an old quote, before sleep claimed her chaos-stricken mind, and the darkness overtook her, as she was too tired to fight back.

**0o0o0o0o0**

Kagome yawned and stretched her arms above her head, the sunlight streaming through the windows and into her room in large beams. Literally rolling out of bed, and slowly making her way towards her dresser, Kagome reached out and grabbed her school uniform from where she had placed it the night before.

Her movements sluggish and unhurried, she pulled the shirt over her head, and the skirt up her legs to where it was supposed to go. Pulling her socks on and sliding into her shoes, Kagome walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, where breakfast was being made for her.

"Good morning!" Her mother called cheerfully, a little bit too happy for that early in the morning. Her younger brother stumbled down the stairs, rubbing his eyes to get the sleep out.

"Good morning!" Their mother called again. Souta grunted in reply, and Kagome giggled like the schoolgirl she was.

After eating a nutritious breakfast, the two made their way out of the kitchen and into the living room to where their backpacks were waiting patiently for them. How… comforting to have your backpack wait for you… after all, that's the only life for a backpack, besides Kagome's old one, which jumped down a well every now and then.

Walking down the street towards where their schools were, the two siblings idly chatted about the weather, schoolwork, or new friends. Even though Souta was only eleven, he knew what it was like to act older than his age. When Kagome had been gone in the Feudal era, he was the one that had taken over the household. Although, we can hardly call managing the video games as taking over the household.

But that was how he understood his sister's cautiousness at meeting new people, about how she always checked them out before actually making the friendship, not like her normal self. Kagome, on the other hand, had herself convinced that it was a normal precaution that people always take. Souta always thought differently.

'_It's all those demons she had to fight._'

"Hey sis," Souta started carefully, not knowing how to approach the situation. They both stopped, and his older sister turned to face him.

"Yeah, Souta?" Kagome asked uncertainly, uncertain at seeing the nervousness in her younger brother's eyes. Was something deeply bothering him so much, that it left an imprint in his eyes?

"About… yesterday…" Oh. That. She relaxed slightly, and sent him a small smile.

"I'm sorry that you had to see me punch him, but it was necess-"

"No! It's not that. That part was cool. It's just, that was the second time…" She stared at him fixedly, not understanding. Second time, what was he talking about?

"Second time…" Kagome repeated, testing the words on her tongue, as if speaking them aloud would actually allow her to comprehend better.

"Yeah… the second time you had to save me from someone." Souta spoke quietly, gazing down at his feet as if they were the most interesting thing in the world at the moment. From experience she knew that he was just avoiding looking into her eyes.

"Don't worry about it, Souta! It was just-"

"No! You don't understand! It doesn't matter that you saved me twice, it's just the fact that you had to! I couldn't stand up to them myself! I'm not as strong as you, or as strong as InuYasha! When the time comes, I won't be able to save myself." He yelled, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. His long bangs covered his eyes, and Kagome couldn't see the small tears that dripped out of his eyes.

"Souta-" He interrupted for the third time.

"And when you have to rush to save me again, you'll end up risking someone else's life for mine, even if it's your own. I don't want that to happen, Kagome!" A bell rung in the distance, and before she could reply, Souta rushed off into his school, leaving no room for further discussion.

'_I can't let anyone see my tears._' He stated firmly, walking down the plain white hall that led to his classroom. Stopping at the bathroom to splash some cold water one his eyes to wash away the signs of tears, he heard the bell ring again. Right now, though, he didn't care if he was late anymore.

Someone entered the bathroom, and Souta tried to wipe away each red streak on his cheeks, trying to hide the fact that he had been crying. The young eleven-year-old boy didn't want anyone to know that he had been crying, that he had a weakness. He would be strong until they realized he was weak.

"Souta?" A soft voice called out, and someone gingerly lay a soft hand on his shoulder. Turning around, the young boy saw it was his one and only best friend, Satoru.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, but Souta shook his head.

"No. I'm fine, just felt ill for a moment." Satoru nodded, and together the two walked out of the bathroom and down the hall towards their class, each thinking about what had just occurred.

'_Why won't he tell me what's wrong?_'

'_Does he think I'm weak?_'

**0o0o0o0o0**

Leisurely, Kagome and Suka took their time walking down the hall, heading towards the front doors that led outside of the building, or where they had decided to take their lunch hour. They chose a large tree near the fence that encircled the school to sit under, and enjoyed the shade.

"So. What's on your mind?" Suka asked after a while, seeing Kagome pick at her lunch. Said girl in question looked up at Suka, her soft eyes clouded.

"Hm?" She asked after a while, and Suka repeated the question.

"Nothing… nothing important." Kagome snapped in reply, her gaze falling back upon her salad. The other girl rolled her eyes and rested her hands on her hips. Never before had Kagome noticed that the nails on Suka's hands had been sharpened to look like claws, painted red in indication of blood.

"Nothing my ass. I can tell you're thinking about something, I just know it." The older girl countered, poking a sharp-nailed finger towards Kagome. Their eyes met, and Kagome knew that Suka would not let the topic go.

"I was just thinking about… my ex-boyfriend." She sighed, and stabbed at her salad once more, spinning the greens around.

"So, what about him? No boyfriend deserves that much deep though, especially an ex one." Suka declared, and Kagome smiled a bit.

"No, he wasn't really a boyfriend, if that helps the matter."

"Oh… you mean, you loved-"

"Yeah. But he's gone now, and I can't get him back." Kagome finished for her, and pushed her salad away. It was rotten smelling anyways.

"Pff! Don't worry, he'll realize that he loves you too, and dump that bitch that stole him. I swear he'll come running back into your arms with crying eyes…" Suka stopped herself at the end, seeing the sadness of her friend's posture and the bright tears form in her eyes.

"No. He's never coming back. He can't. He's dead." Kagome told her, and stood up. She walked away from the tree, throwing her salad container away on the way, ignoring her as the girl called after her. When she turned the corner around the school, she broke into a run and ran towards the back of the school, where there was more room to just sit and think.

Before Kagome reached the back of the school, though, she ran straight into someone's chest, and fell down onto her behind. She vaguely felt someone pull her to feet, but blood red seeped into her vision when another high-pitched voice shouted at her.

"Hey! That girl looks like that Lady Kikyo from the book!"

**0o0o0o0o0**

That day in history class, they had learned about the legend of the Shikon Not Tama, and the people who had protected it. There was something said about the famous group of shard hunters, and the legendary miko, Lady Kikyo. There had been two half-demons, one on the light side, and one on the dark side. One named InuYasha, and the other named Naraku.

Kurama knew what demons could do, and how many innocent people they could slaughter without a second thought. So when the time came that he heard the teacher talking about how many people the demon named Naraku had killed, how many people he had tortured, shivers went down his spine.

It didn't help that Youko, who had woken up at the name of the Shikon No Tama, was correcting everything the teacher said to Kurama, the corrections even more gruesome than the original tale. Apparently the writers of the history book they were reading had neglected to state a few facts the original record of the legend stated.

The other classmates had giggled at the incredulous thought of demons. Like demons ever _could_, or ever _did_ exist. The only one that seemed to be paying any great amount of attention was Kurama, who they knew just wanted to get good grades, and two girls who wanted to show off to the redheaded boy that they were smart, too. In reality, though, they just wanted to show off.

It was hard, though, considering they didn't have enough brain cells to convince even the stupidest person of their fake intelligence.

So absorbed in the legend of the Shikon No Tama, Kurama didn't notice the time had slipped by until the bell rang. Snapping the history book shut, the teacher smiled as the class made their way out of the room and outside, where they would spend their lunch break.

Slipping out back, hoping to be unnoticed, Kurama tried to escape the wrath of mobbing fan girls by going out the side door, which led out towards the back of the school. No such luck, apparently, since he noticed faint giggling behind him. It was the two who had followed him last time yesterday, Asuka, and Tomoyo. How they hadn't torn the other apart already, he had not a single clue.

"Shuichi-kun! What another surprise to see you here, we were just going this way to avoid the lunch time rush!" Asuka screeched, her bright painted lips twisting into a smile. Tomoyo, although rather slowly, walked out behind her, smirking at Kurama.

"Hello." Kurama replied, although it was only out of the politeness his mother had raised him with. If it were really up to Youko, both girls would have been insulted already, and Kurama would be far, far away from them. Maybe trying to find the girl from yesterday, that had run away from them.

'_It was quite strange to have a girl, runaway, from US._' Youko thought furiously, knowing that Kurama was too busy concentrating on how to get away from the two girls to notice his thoughts.

He tried to get away, again, but was unsuccessful as they followed him as he made his way towards the front of the school, walking around the corners at a brisk pace that he hoped the two girls would not be able to keep up with. Once again, Lady Luck was not on his side as they followed him, even though they had to awkwardly skip to keep up with his pace.

Kurama looked back at them, and they smiled, well, one smirked, when something slammed into his chest, knocking the breath from him. With a noise that sounded in relation to 'oof' was heard, and Kurama looked down to see he had knocked someone over. Quickly, and apologizing profusely, he pulled the girl he had knocked over to her feet.

"Hey! That girl looks like that Lady Kikyo from the book!" Asuka shouted, not realizing she had spoken aloud. Once again, tears appeared in Kagome's eyes, and she ran away as fast as she had appeared.

Shock ran through Kurama as he tried to comprehend at what happened right in front of him just moments ago. A girl had just showed up, making her entrance by running into his chest, and he had helped her up. Then he had realized that it was the girl Youko had been urging him to find. And when Asuka had commented, although slightly air-headedly, that she looked like Lady Kikyo from the books, a strained look of hurt washed over her face, and tears had sprung into her eyes.

'_GO WHILE YOU STILL CAN!_' Youko shouted at him, and Kurama turned and ran after Kagome, leaving two very confused girls behind, one hitting the other – ("What happened?" "You idiot! Why did you say that?" " What did I say?") – and the other acting just as air headed as usual.

The redheaded teenaged boy followed Kagome's trail until he found her sitting on a bench that was on the edge of the pond behind the school. The whole area was secluding, and mainly people only came here in pairs, to make out. But it was barely fun or romantic here in the middle of the day, and so the two were left there in privacy.

Walking up to her, he sat on the bench next to the girl, gazing intently at her tear-streaked face. Her bright blue eyes were red and puffy from the crying, and her face was propped up on her hands, elbows on knees. The hem of her skirt was slightly dirty from falling on the ground, but other than that she was perfectly clean.

"I hate people who say I look like her. I hate it." She spoke softly, still gazing out at the pond. He was startled, to say the least.

And as he gently gazed at her more deeply, Kurama found he had nothing to say.

Not that he didn't want to say anything, and not that he didn't want to comfort her. Oh, quite the contrary, he did. How _badly_ he just wanted to reach out and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. He had never actually seen her smile, but he believed that if she did, that it could shock a raging battle into stopping with its wonderful, happy brightness.

Mouth opening and closing with every thought of what he could say, Kurama looked to Youko for help with a situation with this. If it wasn't enough that he didn't know her, he actually didn't know how to comfort her, either. But a surprise besting all other surprises almost stunned him to death. Youko was calm and quiet, slowly calculating the situation, but had nothing to say.

"… -" Just as Kurama was about to _attempt_ to say something, even if it wasn't as comforting as possible, a large raindrop landed on his head. To be followed by another, and another, and another, until it was raining. The shower was light, but that didn't mean that they weren't soaked. Soon enough, though, they were.

"Rain…" Kagome whispered quietly, and brought her gaze up to the sky.

There was a reason she had run away from Suka and her probing questions. Lately, InuYasha had been disappearing more and more. Kagome had gazed at the figure of them for hours the other day, and was surprised to see that the color had moved up to her shins. And yesterday, it had risen even more. That was the part that had scared Kagome.

She had choked back a cry, and it turned into a whimper as she grabbed the figure off the nightstand, where she had placed it. It had been burning with an unidentified source of warmth, the room had been quite chilly at the time. Although it was strange, she had crewed her eyes shut, and tried to squeeze all the forgotten and sad memories back inside of her.

It had worked, as everything had came surging back inside of her.

But gaining so many memories at one time is not ever a good thing. They tore at her emotional barrier until finally Kagome had screamed out in pain, and collapsed on her bed. She had lay there for a moment, her eyes blurry and unfocused, as each memory ran over her mind once again. Then she had gotten up, the memories in her mind fresh, but sealed over, and taken her bath. As Kagome had continued on through the night, gradually she had forgotten about it, until today when Suka had asked about it.

Kagome had been on the verge of an emotional breakdown when she had run away from her friend, but she just set off when that girl, _Asuka_, had said that she had resembled Kikyo. As if missing her first love wasn't enough, they had to bring up the one that had caused her so much emotional pain, and the one that had _killed_ her.

In her opinion, the rain worked just as the water of her bath did. It would run over her body, and wash away the fears, the bad thoughts, anything that she was thinking about. Today, all youkai were just lucky that they hadn't been in the area at the time when Asuka insulted Kagome, since they would have been purified instantly with the purifying waves of rage that had poured off her.

How Kurama had managed this far without any severe purifying burns, or was actually _not_ purified out of existence yet, was beyond our knowledge.

"I'm sorry that I ran into you." Kagome was the one to speak again. It seemed that Kurama could just not find the right words to say. Or, he was scared that if he said something, it would get mangled and come out as 'wet… rain… yeah…'. Or, that's what Youko was afraid of it coming out as, since he stayed quiet inside Shuichi's head. He wouldn't want to ruin his chances with this girl (although Shuichi stated that he was not attracted to her whatsoever.)

"Yeah…" Was all he managed to get out without messing up. It wasn't that he was so stunned with her beauty that he couldn't talk. No, it was just… he had never before comforted… a _girl_.

Kagome turned her head to face him, and granted him a large smile. "I really am sorry." She twisted her hair and rung the water out, despite the fact that more would collect in it moments later. "I was just – never mind. My name is Kagome. Higurashi Kagome."

"Minamino Shuichi." He replied, bowing slightly, though it was hard, considering they were sitting on a bench, in the rain, by a pond, introducing themselves…

"Once again I'm sorry that I ran away before we could introduce ourselves yesterday, Mr. Minamino, but I really had to go and pick up my brother before he walked home alone." She smiled again, and Kurama felt himself relaxing as well.

"That's quite alright, I apologize for startling you, Miss Higurashi." He smiled as well.

"Please call me Kagome."

"Please call me Shuichi." They stated simultaneously.

The pair lapsed into a moment of silence, turning away from each other and looking towards the sky as the rain fell. The soft plink of the rain as it hit the surface water of the large pond in front of them was the only noise besides the soft sound of the precipitation hitting the ground.

"I don't hate them." Kagome muttered, breaking the few minutes of silence. Kurama looked over at her inquiringly, and she smiled again.

"Earlier I said I hate them. I don't. I can't possibly hate anything at all, unless it's someone like Naraku." She explained. Once she realized her mistake, her eyes widened, and she prepared to explain, once again.

"So you had history already as well? Yes, that Naraku fellow seems like a bastard, now, doesn't he?" It took a moment for Kagome to register in her mind what he had just said. Blinking, her gaze settled on his face.

"Uh… um… Yes?" She hoped he didn't notice the statement turn into a question at the end, and hoped that it was the right answer.

"Although, the legend of the Shikon No Tama that the history books have is very… vague." He recalled, and Kagome nodded. She too had had history that morning, but had forgotten about the tale. After all, it wasn't like she actually _needed_ to listen to it again. We all know why.

"It seems they left all the violence out," She snickered. "and if I know correctly, which I think I do, then all of the sub-characters were _not_ named Michi. No one in the original legend was."

"Oh? And how would you know so clearly? Although it is strange that everyone besides Lady Kikyo, InuYasha the half-demon, and the evil guy Naraku, was named Michi…" Kurama bantered.

"I uh… my shrine is the uh… base of the legend, you could say," Kagome stuttered, hoping that Shuichi didn't catch her nervousness or error. She was only half as lucky. _Shuichi_ didn't catch her error or nervousness. But _Youko_ did. Relaying this information to Shuichi and Kurama, they all decided not to pester her on it.

"You live at a shrine?" He asked, sincere curiousness laced into his voice.

"Yes. Higurashi Shrine, or the Sunset Shrine." Kagome sighed then, and stood up.

"Well, I have to go. I'm sorry for knocking you over and making you follow me, but I really have to get back now." With that she walked away, not bothering to look back at Kurama as he sat on the bench and watched her walk away from him once again, shocked.

"Now to apologize to Suka." She mumbled aloud to herself, not aware that Kurama could hear her words as he watched her disappear around the side of the school.

**0o0o0o0o0**

Jumping from tree to tree, Hiei remembered the conversation he had had with the ruler of the Spirit World just a few minutes ago.

_"There has been a strange energy signal popping up on the radar lately. Earlier, it had just been popping in and out of existence, and so we couldn't trace it. But now it's back, and much more stronger. There's a strange spirit aura with it, so watch out." Koenma spoke, waving his arms in the air to accentuate his point._

_"Hn. Why not the detective, or the fox?" Hiei asked, clearly annoyed._

_"Because. They have homework." Hiei almost sweat-dropped at the excuse._

His advanced senses trained to find the smallest ounce of energy, the apparition followed his senses north, where they eventually led him to a small shrine. Following the strong aura, he was led up towards the second floor, to a window of what seemed to be a small room. Just as he was about to hop off and find the energy somewhere else, the door of the room opened, and a teenaged girl walked in, a towel the only thing gracing her body at the moment.

**0o0o0o0o0**

It had taken only a few minutes to explain to Suka about the situation, until their quick friendship was completely healed over. At the time, Kagome had actually felt some of her scared feelings ease away at the thought that she would have someone other than just her mother to confront her and talk about all of these feelings. As she looked at the figure now, though, she saw that they had indeed been drawn away from her other turmoiled thoughts, and now the color was at her ankles.

Letting the warm water of the bath wash over her, Kagome sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. She was tired, and felt dirty from being in the rain so long. Of course her mother had dropped off a dry uniform for her to change into at school, but she hadn't been able to properly wash her hair until now.

'_Where are you, InuYasha?_ _I heard you yesterday when you dropped the book between Mr. Minamino and I, but where had you been before that?_' Kagome was truthfully worried now.

'_I sense your aura less and less, InuYasha, and it scares me. Are you going to disappear forever, leaving me behind? Don't leave me behind, InuYasha, please don't leave me behind…_'

Pulling herself out of the soothing heat of the water, she stepped out of the tub and looked around for a towel. Growling, she grabbed the only clean towel in the room, which was just plain white, but _very_ small. It didn't cover anything besides her 'coverables,' and for those it did just barely. Oh well. She was only walking to her room, after all.

Skipping to her room, Kagome took pleasure in the fact that no one was home, and that she as free to make as much sound as she possibly wanted, as long as it didn't scare the pants – although where he would _get_ pants, we do not know – off of Buyo. Which meant, give him a piece of cheese and then blast your ears off with music, because he won't hear you.

The teenaged miko exhaled deeply, and rung the water out of her hair as she skipped into her room, not bothering to close the door behind her. Who was there to see besides Buyo? The only living thing in the house besides herself and Buyo was a strange fungus that seemed to live under Souta's bed… but she didn't want to get into that now.

Once again skipping, Kagome hopped over towards her dresser, where she pulled out a pair of underwear, and a plain pajama shirt. Just as she was about to drop the towel, something in the window caught her attention, and she turned towards it. Only to scream her lungs off, though.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?" Kagome shouted at the figure in the tree, clutching her small towel tighter around her body.

A small, faint, pink line appeared on Hiei's face as he was caught red-handed – well, more like red-_eyed_ at watching her dress. He hadn't actually _meant_ to see her, he had just been following orders to find the energy and report back to Koenma about it.

"Hn." He said, shaking it off, and jumping into her room through the open window. "I have to take you to Koenma." He stated, and she blushed. Here they were, a strange, unidentified demon in a teenage girl's room, her with only a towel on. He reached out to grab her, but she jumped away.

That was when the games began.

A strange force seemed to attach itself to Kagome, and she was pulled out of the demon's reach as it lunged for her. She was amazed at the startling speed of the demon, but was even more stunned to see that it couldn't catch her, only because she was going as fast as it.

The unidentified force pulled Kagome towards the window, which was open, and tossed her out. Before she could hit the ground, though, the same invisible force pulled her sideways, so she landed on her feet. The other demon jumped out of the room as well, landing just a few feet from herself.

Screaming as the demon sprung at her, and Kagome was pulled away from it once again. Screwing her eyes shut as she was pulled farther and farther away from her shrine, and faster and faster towards an unknown destination, she felt the sting of the bitter fall air nip at her almost bare body. A blush appeared on her face, and not just from being in the cold, either.

Opening her eyes just a bit, though, the young miko saw the red-eyed demon chasing her at full speed, and saw his hand reach down to slowly pull out his katana. Her eyes widened even more as she saw the sickening shine of the demon's sword, afraid of what it could do to her.

She immediately regretted opening her eyes as the harsh wind whipped past her, making her bright eyes water. Her head spun as the indistinguishable force sped up, and Hiei had to run faster to catch up. Just as she felt the air at he sides almost rip deep cuts into her skin, everything stopped.

When her eyes had opened, Kagome had realized that the force that had been carrying her away from the unknown demon had stopped, and so had the unidentified demon. It would have been fine for them to stop, Kagome would have enjoyed the fact that the harsh winds were no longer biting at her almost bare body. She _would_ have been thankful… if it weren't for the fact that they were in the middle of a street.

The demon lunged at her, and the unknown force tossed her aside, although not too gently. Her skin scraped against the hard gravel of the busy road, and instantly Kagome was relieved that no cars had run her over. It seemed that they had been stopped in the middle of a huge, busy street with towering buildings on each side, only because the unknown demon had caught up with them.

Bouncing back to her feet she tried to pull the towel tighter around her body, trying to shield her body from the coldness, and from the prying eyes of the spectators. Meanwhile, the strange, invisible force that had pulled her out of reach from the red-eyed demon that had been chasing her, was currently fighting with said red-eyed demon.

The surrounding crowd that had gathered without Kagome's notice clapped and cheered and gasped in awe as Hiei and an unseen force raged in battle, slashing and attacking with a clash of swords, one glistening in the light, while the other was just… invisible. Kagome gasped as the invisible thing was forced back by a large slash of Hiei's sword, and hit the wall of a nearby innocent building, breaking it open.

Suddenly, a cry was heard, and three large blasts of light appeared out of nowhere, racing towards Hiei at an astounding speed. They ripped at the ground as they traveled over it, breaking apart the hard pavement as though it was only wet paper.

From so much experience, of course Kagome immediately knew what the three blasts of light were.

Hiei panted as the light subsided, and was brought down to his knees. Luckily, he had avoided getting hit by the explosions of light by jumping out of the way, but just the enormous energy of the blasts had brought him down. The over-powering aura made his breaths come in short gasps, and he knew that there was no chance he could continue on in this one fight.

'_Need… more… train…_' He thought, before he finally collapsed to the ground in an unconscious heap.

"Damn! What the hell happened he – WHY THE HELL IS THIS BITCH HERE?" A voice called from the side. Kagome glanced up, to see the one person she _really_ did not want to see at the this time. Yusuke Urameshi.

"Who are you calling bitch, you donkey!" Kagome called back, her anger getting the best of her.

"Why you –" Yusuke was about to rush over and pound Kagome into the ground, when a voice interrupted.

"Miko."

**0o0o0o0o0**

I know for a fact that there's a lot of Linkin Park fans out there! They may not be reading this story, but I've seen about thirty profiles that say 'LINKIN PARK ROCKS MY SOCKS!'. They are a good band; not my favorite, but good, none the less.

Am I really evil? I'm sorry. Well, I dare you to guess who it is! And, please send in your ideas for little happenings.

So far, I have the whole outline of this story, like major events, and some small happenings, but please send in your ideas.

**0o0-Next-Chapter-0o0**

"I am not a wench! Nor am I InuYasha's! My name is simply Kagome. Kagome Higurashi."

**0o0o0o0o0**

Thank you all for the reviews! I'm sorry that I didn't update soon enough, but the more reviews, the faster I update, I swear!

The reason Kagome would be an inu-youkai, like InuYasha or Sesshomaru, would be because earlier, InuYasha's wish was 'I wish… that Kagome was strong enough to survive through her death…'. That means, that I'll either give her InuYasha's blood, making her a full inu-youkai, or just increase her miko powers by say… oh, I don't know, maybe ten to one hundred fold?

Oh well, if you have any questions, please feel free to E-mail me, and I'll answer as soon as I can.

And remember,

**REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!**

Please and thank you,

HAPPY NEW YEAR, AND BELATED CHRISTMAS AND CHANUKKA, AND ANY OTHER HOLIDAY,

Love,

Cat.


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